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Rapid Assessment of Socio Economic Impact of COVID 19 in Nepal
Rapid Assessment of Socio Economic Impact of COVID 19 in Nepal
July 15, 2020
The uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nepal’s social economy will magnify depending on how events
unfold on three fronts: first, its dependence on tourism, trade, and foreign employment – and the consequences
that will propagate through the services and industrial landscape; second, if or when the spread of the pandemic
overwhelms a grossly inadequate health infrastructure and antivirals or vaccine become available; and third, Nepal’s
heavy geo-economic reliance on India and China, and the nature of contagion in those countries
Based on a painstaking survey of 700 businesses and 400 individuals, and consultations with over 30 private sector
organizations and government agencies, conducted tenaciously during the lockdown, we find that the COVID-19
pandemic has disrupted supply chains, shut or threatened the survival of small and informal enterprises, and made
people highly vulnerable to falling back into poverty through widespread loss of income and jobs.
