KATHMANDU, Jan 21: Nepal still has a lot of work to do for the development of its economic sector, National Planning Commission (NPC) member Swarnim Wagle said at an event on Friday.

Speaking at a workshop on ‘Poverty Issues in Nepal’ organized by the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), Wagle said the country had to make long-term plans to be able to graduate to Developing Country status from its current Least Developed Country (LDC) status by the 2022 deadline.

Likewise, PAF Executive Director Nahakul KC said the country needed fresh commitment and a consolidated effort to achieve faster economic growth while making further improvement in reducing poverty. The latest three-year 14th periodic plan, which had been delayed because of political and policy instability in the country, envisages reducing the number of people living below the poverty line to 17 percent by Fiscal Year 2018/19 from the current figure of 21.6 percent, KC said at the workshop, adding that PAF’s programs covered 831,070 poor households. A total of 32,786 community organizations (COs) of the poor have been formed under PAF, he said.

He further added that PAF had played a crucial role in ensuring that even the poorest had access to finance to create employment opportunities and income generation activities.

 
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