The year 2008: Lost opportunity and demised economic revolution

At the start of 2008, except for fuel prices everything looked rosy. But, by the end of the year only fuel prices look rosy.
The year 2008 will go down in the country's history as one that saw experiments in policies and politics, all at the cost of the economy. Increased hours of power outages, insecurity, closure of industries and hotels by militant trade unions and the highs and lows of the stock market are merely some of the barbs that rankled this year.
When it started, the country had a liberal economist finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, who gilded the economic skyline with a golden brush. And now, when the year has come to an end we have the first Maoist finance minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai who believes that capitalism is the major cause of global economic doom.
Dr Bhattarai, on September 19, presented a deficit and ambitious budget of Rs 136.15 billion with tall claims of ushering in an economic revolution to change the centuries-old proletariat structure of Nepali society. The year 2008 leaves us with a shattered dream of economic revolution that we were promised. Nepal has lost one more year in political jingoism.
However, just after three months of the announcement of the budget and five months of the lapse of the current fiscal year, he is trying to stay afloat just to maintain the revenue target. His own militant trade union along with other ruling political party-affiliated ones are throttling industries, forcing their managments on the backfoot and making it generally difficult for them to even mainatin open-eye mode. The newly-formed industry ministry and its minister are trying even harder to understand the problems plaguing the industries that have seen nil growth in recent times. Frequent bandhs and increased load-shedding is bleeding the industries white.
The government may have eked out the revenue target but it has failed to start even a single development project and has double-failed in that it has not been able to create even a single job opportunity. Unemployment is forcing the country's young generation to fan out abroad in search of greener pastures but despite his claims the rebel-turned mainstream politico finance minister Dr Bhattarai has failed to provide them employment opportunities. He has been appealing to Nepali youths to return home but he has no explanation why they should when there are no employment opportunities.
Inflation stands at a high, high of 14.5 per cent despite claims by the central bank that it will crack whip on it and contain within 7.5 per cent. But its spiriling up, up and above, there is no respite to the people.
Of late, the country is getting singed from the heat of the global financial crisis, and migrant workers in Gulf countries as well as Malaysia - the major labour markets for Nepalis - are returning home, and that is certain to hit the remittance that is sent home.
Besides, there is capital flight due to one after another plant shutdown. Colgate-Palmolive is one example where the investors fled the country as they were not feeling safe despite the government's promises of creating an investment-friendly environment.
When the Maoists came to power, a section of society was bristling with excitement that the country would prosper and that there would be greater investment in development works while creating more jobs, but their dreams lie mute in the dust.
In the Tarai, mushrooming militant groups have got industrialists by the short hairs, spreading a donation-terror and making it difficult for them to do business. The law machinery has totally failed to protect industrialists and industrial areas.
The government has failed in all those very aspects that it had claimed that it would bring about change. The people's woes have not been addressed. In public view, it is instead the government itself that is suspected of corruption at the policy level. Instances abound.. Either in the name of declaring an energy crisis for the covert purpose of bringing thermal plants or clamping a ceiling on the purchase of vehicles priced beyond a certain amount just to protecting certain vested interests. You name, you have it. The list goes on...
The capital market -- propelled by the financial institutions -- saw a record high before plunging to the lowest of lows this year. It has no contribution of the real sector even after 15 years of operations. Capital market experts are not slow in pointing out that over and above all the mayhem and mess-up, the Maoist-led government has no 'definite policy' for capital market development.
The ministries of Industry and Transport Management & Labour failed to deliver on any score. The transport entrepreneurs have gone beyond the ministry pale and are forcing the general people to cough up hiked transport fares even after Nepal Oil Corporation, taking a cue from the global scenario, slashed the price of petroleum products four times in a row. Price cuts began on October 25. The slate is still open.
Burn, burn slower, that is the only message that 2008 is leaving us with. All else may be Humpty Dumptyish but it now costs less, on paper, to ride.
Let's ride, if only the transporters will have mercy.