KATHMANDU, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the World Bank published a report stating economic growth is set to increase by 7.2 percent in 2021 and 4.4 percent in 2022 in the South Asian region.

The World Bank, however, shares in its twice-a-year-regional update that, growth is uneven and economic activity well below pre-COVID-19 estimates, as many businesses need to make up for lost revenue and millions of workers, most of them in the informal sector are still reeling from job losses, falling incomes, worsening inequalities, and human capital deficits.

South Asia Vaccinate shows that the region is set to regain its historical growth rate by 2022. The recovering economic activity is indicated by the consumption of electricity and mobility data.

Nepal's GDP is projected to grow by 2.7 percent in the fiscal year 2021-22 and recover to 5.1 percent by 2023.

Hartwig Schafer World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region said, "We are encouraged to see clear signs of an economic rebound in South Asia, but the pandemic is not yet under control and the recovery remains fragile, calling for vigilance."

 "Going forward, South Asian countries need to ramp up their vaccination programs and invest their scarce resources wisely to set a foundation for a more inclusive and resilient future," it said.

However, analysts view that South Asia grapples with high stunting rates among children and accounts for more than half of the world's student dropouts due to COVID-19, needs to ramp up investments in human capital to help new generations grow up healthy and become productive workers.