Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarbochha Adalat)
Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist
and Leninist (CPN/UML), Prime Minister Man Mohan ADHIKARI, Deputy
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar NEPAL; Nepali Congress Party (NCP),
president Krishna Prasad BHATTARAI, former Prime Minister Girija
Prasad KOIRALA, Leader of the Opposition Sher Bahadur DEUBA; National
Democratic Party (NDP), Surya Bahadur THAPA; Terai Rights Sadbhavana
(Goodwill) Party, Gajendra Narayan SINGH; United People's Front (UPF),
Niranjan Govinda BAIDYA; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP),
Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE; Communist Party of Nepal
(Democratic-Manandhar), B. B. MANANDHAR
Other political or pressure groups: numerous small, left-leaning
student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese
antimonarchist groups
Member of: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO
(correspondent), ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL,
UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Pradeep
KHATIWADA
chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550
consulate(s) general: New York
US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador Sandra L. VOGELGESANG embassy: Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [977] (1) 411179 FAX: [977] (1) 419963
Flag: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun
@Nepal:Economy
Overview: Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 90% of the population and accounting for half of GDP. Industrial activity is limited, mainly involving the processing of agricultural produce (jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain). Production of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and accounted for 85% of foreign exchange earnings in FY93/94. Apart from agricultural land and forests, exploitable natural resources are mica, hydropower, and tourism. Agricultural production in the late 1980s grew by about 5%, as compared with annual population growth of 2.6%. More than 40% of the population is undernourished. Since May 1991, the government has been encouraging trade and foreign investment, e.g., by eliminating business licenses and registration requirements in order to simplify domestic and foreign investment. The government also has been cutting public expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries, and laying off civil servants. Prospects for foreign trade and investment in the 1990s remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, and susceptibility to natural disaster. The international community provides funding for 70% of Nepal's developmental budget and for 30% of total budgetary expenditures. The government, realizing that attempts to reverse three years of liberalization would jeopardize this vital support, almost certainly will move ahead with its reform program in 1995-96.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $22.4 billion (1994 est.)