As Nepal has been passing through a severe economic slowdown, Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada is presenting the budget for the Fiscal Year 2020/21 on Thursday at the Federal Parliament.

With shutdown of economic activities as a result of the lockdown,the country’s economy has suffered a lot. The government predicted an economic growth rate of a mere 2.3 per cent for the current fiscal year 2019-20.

Finance Minister Dr.Khatiwada said though all economic indicators till mid-March were positive, the spread of COVID-19 had affected the entire economy since its outbreak and would bring down the annual growth to the given level present Presenting the Economic Survey report.

As there are several issues, the budget is expected to address the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and put the economy battered by the crisis back on track with the announcement of economic stimulus for the business, job creation for the youth and relief for the needy people.