‘Pokhara is the most expensive place to live’

The price of daily commodities has increased by around six percent in a year in Pokhara, reports RSS.

The hike in prices is such that this sylvan lake town in the western part of the country has been listed as the costliest in the nation.

This dubious distinction was bestowed on Pokhara after a recent survey conducted by a magazine.

Last year, the inflation rate reached 13 percent against 7.7 percent the previous year.

The price of daily commodities is on the rise every year in Pokhara due to political instability, said officials concerned.

While presenting working papers at a seminar on inflation organised by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Department of Investigation in Pokhara Wednesday, NRB deputy director Gopal Prasad Bhatta said the price of daily commodities is increasing every year due to liquidity seen in the NRB.

Speaking at the programme, Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Man Kaji Makaju said that the business sector has been adversely affected due to the fluctuations in the price of daily essential commodities.

He stressed on the need for immediate steps by NRB to control the price-hike. He also sought regular monitoring of the market by the Local Consumers’ Committee.

Dr Yadav Sharma Goudel, a teacher at Prithvi Narayan Campus, said that people mainly from the poorer sections of society are hit hard by the increasing price of daily commodities. Repeated market shutdowns and increased hours of load-shedding are the main causes of price-hike across the country, he added.

National food price hike still remains a serious concern.

“The most recent year-on-year food price inflation figure provided by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in February was 18.1 percent against 17.8 per cent last month,” it said, adding that the high food prices are driving overall consumer price inflation upwards that is currently estimated at 11.8 percent. nepalnews.com