KATHMANDU, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's inflation moderated to a 31-month low at 4.4 percent in mid-May as the South Asian country has suffered from an economic slowdown, Nepal's central bank said on Monday.
The year-on-year consumer price inflation went down from 7.41 percent a year ago, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said in its monthly report on macroeconomic and financial situations.
The inflation in Nepal was 4.4 percent in mid-October 2021 when the economic activities suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the NRB, low price rise of non-food items helped drag the inflation down. Non-food and service-category inflation stood at 2.96 percent in mid-May while food inflation was 6.27 percent.
Particularly, the communications sector witnessed a negative growth in prices while transportation and housing and utilities saw nominal price rises of 0.11 percent and 1.73 percent, respectively.
The inflation in Nepal has remained below 5 percent since mid-March this year.
Prakash Kumar Shrestha, chief of the NRB's economic research department, told Xinhua that the inflation has remained low, and the economy is not performing well because of reduced demands for goods and services.
Nepal's economy is projected to grow by 3.87 percent in the current 2023-24 fiscal year ending in mid-July against the government's target of 6 percent, according to the National Statistics Office.
The manufacturing and construction sectors are expected to see a negative growth of 1.6 percent and 2.07 percent, respectively, while the wholesale and retail sector, the second largest contributor to the economy after the agriculture sector, is projected to see a meager growth of 0.16 percent. ■
