Kathmandu: The National Planning Commission (NPC) has said that investment of Rs 21.065 trillion is required for the country to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unveiling its report ‘Sustainable Development Goals: Needs Identification, Cost Estimation and Fiscal Strategy, 2081 BS’ on Sunday, the NPC said on average Rs 3.023 billion is required annually from 2024-2030 to implement the global goals for development.
Of the total estimated cost, the highest portion is needed for the implementation of Goal-9 which is about industry, innovations and infrastructure development. This sector is estimated to cost 24 per cent of the total investment while 12 per cent is required for the Goal-7 which is about clean energy. Similarly, 11 per cent is warranted for poverty alleviation specified in the Goal-1.
It is stated that 45.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to be needed for the advancement towards the SDGs from 2024-2030. As the Commission said, strategy has been prepared in a way that it ensures the availability of fiscal resources from the public, private, cooperative and household levels. Of the total cost requirements, 57.5 per cent is projected to be mobilised from the public sphere (70 per cent of the federal government, nine per cent of the province governments and 21 per cent of the local governments). Similarly, the private sector is likely to contribute 34.35 per cent to the total estimated cost while the non-government sector is likely to make contribution of 4.18 per cent. From the household level, 3.95 per cent is estimated to be invested. NPC Vice Chair Prof Dr Shiva Raj Adhikari launched the report. “We are trying to identify our needs to achieve the goals and the resources needed to meet them. In this report, we have also identified some new sources than before. We have also redefined the role of all three levels of government and private and cooperative sectors to achieve the goal,” he said.
In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is necessary to identify the latest sources such as blended finance, climate finance, besides the existing sources. The report highlights the long-term financial gap for the implementation of SDGs. It also suggested economic, policy and legal review needed to achieve the desired progress in the SDGs by 2030. Similarly, the report suggested that strategic interventions such as sectoral policy reforms, prioritization of the Sustainable Development Goals, resource mobilization improvement, mobilization of foreign aid, increasing the cost effectiveness of public spending, and easy access to technology are necessary. The NPC prepared the report citing that a review and updating of policies and strategies for the implementation of the country’s Sustainable Development Goals as a whole was required in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, demographic changes, migration and urbanization, rising inequality, issues related to climate change, and the impact of conflict, including the provincial context. The NPC also today released a book titled ‘Method of Employing Key Economic Indicators’. According to NPC, this book has been published to increase the proper use of economic indicators that are frequently used.
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