One-fourth of Nepal's workers lost jobs due to COVID-19, says Central Bank

Businesses in Nepal have laid off 22.5% of their workers to curb the spread of coronavirus which affected tourism and other activities, a senior central bank official reportedly said on August 13. According to the reports, a detailed study was conducted by the central bank in June which revealed that most of the jobs were lost in hotel and restaurants followed by agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and the wholesale and retail sectors. In addition, the tourism sector is the worst-hit in the small Himalayan nation. 
As per reports, a nationwide lockdown was imposed in the country in March after two cases of COVID-19 were reported.

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Workers lose jobs

The study claimed that the lockdown measures were relaxed in June but the economic activity would take some time to revive even after the elimination of virus. Gunakar Bhatta, an executive director of the Nepal Rastra Bank, who led the study said, "Businesses, specially the hotels, said it will take them 13 months to return to a pre-COVID-19 situation". 

The study noted that workers are facing average pay cuts of more than 18% and the pandemic forced  61% of business to shut down completely. The production and turnover of the business establishments that stayed open were on average up to 73% lower. So far, Nepal has reported  24,432 coronavirus cases and 91 fatalities and the health workers expect that the peak infections are still week away. 

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Meanwhile, India on August 9 gifted 10 ventilators worth Rs 28 million to Nepal to support the country's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As per reports, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over the ventilators to Nepal Army chief Purna Chandra Thapa during a ceremony at the Nepali Army Headquarters. 

As per a statement from the Indian Embassy in Nepal, these ventilators will support a wide range of applications which include advanced invasive or non-invasive respiratory support. It further added that these can be used in hospitals with ICU, tertiary multi-specialty hospitals, and dedicated ICUs. Moreover, due to their compact nature, the ventilators are portable and handy in the transportation of patients requiring intensive care, the statement added. 

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