Nepal, Sept. 5 -- Releasing the Current Economic Status Paper in April, the RSP-led government set an ambitious goal of doubling Nepal's economy or the gross domestic product (GDP), which is currently a mere $45 billion, to $100 billion with a growth rate of 7 percent in five years or by 2031. This has triggered a debate on development vis-a-vis the Nepali economy, which transformed from near autarky until the 1980s into a rapidly liberalised one after the early 1990s. The debate has mostly focused on one obvious question: Has Nepal been developing or deteriorating economically since then?

Debates on development among ordinary Nepalis are often unfounded and politically prejudiced. Authoritarians believe that development has deteriorated...