Nepal is projected to require an annual budget of 30 billion for sustainable development.
Following covid, it is evident that there is a growing global shortage of capital resources needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to Hanna Singer Hamdi, the UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal, "it was believed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic that capital resources equal to 25 billion dollars per year were insufficient to achieve the goal of sustainable development."
She made this statement during an event called "Finance for Development" that the Federation of Commerce and Industry, the Government of Nepal, and the United Nations Nepal arranged in Kathmandu.
According to speakers, Nepal is not an exception to this.
Nepal is gearing up to transition from a least developed to a developed nation by meeting the numerous requirements outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals by 2026.
According to reports, Nepal will require capital of 23 billion dollars (30 trillion 82 billion rupees) per year between 2023 and 2030 in order to achieve the varied requirements of the sustainable development targets.
Accordingly, it is said that Nepal is short on the necessary capital in an amount equivalent to 11% of GDP. Despite having achieved many sustainable development targets, Nepal is claimed to still have a low per capita GDP.
Many of the Asia-Pacific region's nations are reportedly getting close to achieving the sustainable development objectives that must be met by 2023.
It is getting harder for Nepal to achieve sustainable development while the country's budgetary space is getting less, public debt is growing, and foreign direct investment is staying the same.
"There is a similar problem in Nepal and environmental challenges have been added," stated Bishnu Prasad Paudel, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, "in underdeveloped or developing countries, the revenue mobilization capacity is weak, internal debt is increasing, and there is a lack of resources."
Foreign investment can provide Nepal with the relatively small amount of capital needed to meet its sustainable development goals.
In less developed nations, the rate of foreign investment inflow has recently decreased.
In 2022, foreign direct investment declined by 12% worldwide, with LDCs experiencing the worst decline (16%). Based on data from the World Bank, Nepal received foreign direct investment in 2022 that accounted for just 0.2% of its GDP.