People experience economic slump during the Dasain festival

People experienced how weak has the economic sector become in Nepal during the recent Dashain festival.

Many people cut their expenses because of lack of money. This was evident from the poor business just days before Dashain.

Even the sales of goats dropped significantly during Dashain. Goat meat is the main dish the people enjoy in Dashain. But the butchers and the goat-rearing farmers failed to make the expected business this Dashain.

When a young farmer who was seen grazing a big herd of goats in Ilam on the day of Vijaya Dashami was asked why he did not sell goats in Dashain, he simply said that no one visited him to buy goats.

This shows the framers who reared goats were unable to sell them even in Dashain. In the past, there used to be a shortage of goats for meat during Dashain. Moreover, people were affected by skyrocketing prices of every good ranging from clothes to vegetables during the festivals.

While the shopkeepers argued that their businesses failed, the customers blamed that the prices of every item were very high.

Even the movements of people looked poor as many vehicles were seen plying without adequate passengers on the second and third day of Dashain after Tika. It is because the people did not visit their relatives to receive tika only because they lacked the money to pay the fares and buy gifts.

When the prices of clothes went beyond the reach of common people, many parents did not buy new clothes for their wards this Dashain. When the business activities went down, the stores and business companies in Kathmandu had to cut down the number of staff on the eve of Dashain. "My boss told me not to come to work after Dashain citing that his business was affected by the recession, and I returned to Jhapa carrying all my goods including this scooter," a youth who was on his red scooter with a heavy bag behind at Beltar, Udayapur, said under the condition of anonymity.