The Nepal Premier League was the exception that highlighted the start contrast with the norm. The four-week cricket extravaganza was a big financial success. Nepal’s cricket regulator alone amassed a revenue of around Rs400 million. Factoring in all the money sloshing around in terms of tickets, sponsorships, extra spending on food and travel, among other expenses, the total spending is believed to have surpassed Rs1 billion. Yet for an economy of around $50 billion dollars, it was still a pittance. The hard reality is that the national economy has been stagnant for some time—and the Gen Z revolt in early September put further skids on it. Businesses are not investing. Money continues to pile up in banks even as interest rates plummet. Job creation is anemic. Hardly a surprise then that people don’t have much to spend, and as a result of weak market demand, inflation has fallen to nearly 1 percent as of mid-November—hitting a 22-year low. This is a sign of trouble ahead.

A sense of proportion is warranted too. The sluggish state of Nepali economy alone is not responsible for such a low inflation rate. As Nepal imports most of its products from India and as the Nepali currency is pegged to the Indian rupee, the country has simply imported low inflation south of the border. And, in fact, even the global economy is struggling to gain momentum as the trade war between the US and China heats up. Some argue that the low inflation figure this year might also be simply a correction for years of above 5 percent inflation. With most people’s incomes stagnant, they might even cheer the new inflation figure. Yet if Nepali businesses continue to have little confidence in the health of the economy and if the current state of people’s exodus out of the country continues, we might well be staring at an economic crisis. In the process, Nepal would have lost its youth dividend and average Nepalis a rare opportunity to rise up the income ladder.

The NPL was a commercial success. Yet nearly every other venture is doing poorly. With the government failing to implement decisive measures to perk up the economy, economists warn that Nepal’s economy has slowed significantly over the past few years—the recent political turmoil only adding to the uncertainty. As much as low inflation might be desirable for many, the real goal should not be to suppress inflation but to boost people’s incomes and their spending power. In that case, people wouldn’t mind even if inflation is a touch high. Right now, investments in productive ventures are at record lows and most of the money is being spent in accruing supposedly safe assets like land and gold—the rest of the money is parked in the banks. This is all the more reason to double down on holding timely elections, ending the state of political transition and getting the economy humming again. And this can only happen with collective effort of the major stakeholders in the current political process. With politics back on track, the economy will also get new momentum.