When the time for the first flush came in mid-March, Shanta Baskota was largely oblivious to the fact that trouble was brewing for her medium-scale enterprise–Kanchenjunga Tea Estate and Research Centre in Panchthar.

Just as her workers were preparing for the premium harvest of the green tea leaves, the country went into lockdown starting March 24.

Tea growers like Baskota were unable to mobilise workers to pluck green tea leaves on time which would fetch higher prices for its quality. The green leaves instead matured in front of the growers' eyes.

“My losses alone stood to the tune of Rs 20 million,” said Baskota.

The tea-plucking season usually begins in March and runs through October.

Though the lockdown was lifted on July 21, amid the rising number of cases, restrictions were imposed again.

Baskota has been paying basic salary to around 150 tea garden workers even though there is no work, she said. “My business has been hit hard like never before.”

Now there are reports that restrictions could continue until Dashain. Baskota is convinced that her business for this year is wiped out.

For the first time ever, average tea prices in India, Nepal’s major market, rose by 40-60 percent this year, driven by strong buyer demand and a huge shortfall. But for Nepali tea producers, the season has been a loss.

The pandemic has hit medium-scale enterprises like Baskota’s as well as small ones and big ones.

According to economist Bishwambher Pyakurel, who has served at various multilateral agencies including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the United Nations as an international consultant, 90 percent of the small and medium enterprises which contribute around 22 percent to the country’s gross domestic product have remained shut.

It was not easy for domestic airlines operators—the capital intensive business that has to shell out huge amounts in salaries–as their earnings have touched the zero level for months.

“It’s painful. For the last six months, all economic activities have come to a halt,” said Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of Buddha Air. His planes have remained grounded since March 20.

The government had asked domestic airlines operators to be prepared for operation twice—from August 17 first and then again from September 1. But in the wake of the rising number of Covid-19 cases, there is no concrete plan from the government when domestic airlines will take to the skies again.

“Shutting down the airlines industry is not just about a particular company losing businesses,” Basnet told the Post. “It also means depriving thousands of people of their livelihoods. There are porters, there are drivers, there are people involved in ground handling.”

Even though the government has not declared a lockdown, coronavirus restrictions are in place even today, and the Covid-19 count has been steadily increasing.

Nepal on Monday reported 979 new Covid-19 infections, which took the national tally to 47,236. The death toll touched the 300 mark with 11 fatalities reported over the past 24 hours.

In Kathmandu Valley, 326 cases were reported in the past 24 hours–293 in Kathmandu, 20 in Lalitpur and 13 in Bhaktapur.

“The Covid-19 pandemic alone has not hit the economy, it’s the leadership that has ruined all of us,” said Basnet. “The government has not realised how the ongoing restrictions that have been extended time and again are causing profound repercussions on the economy.”

The hit Nepal’s economy has taken from the Covid-19 pandemic is found in almost all the sectors.

According to the government data released on Sunday, Nepal’s gross domestic product saw a massive slump in the third quarter of the last fiscal year.

The four-month-long lockdown from March 24 to July 21 is likely to wipe out the fourth quarter’s GDP. With restrictions in place today as well, with plans afoot to extend them, businesspersons are now getting extremely worried.

“There is no alternative to resuming economic activities by strictly following health protocols,” said Shekhar Golchha, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

According to Golchha, most industries are running at 25 percent capacity.

Golchha, along with some other industrialists, met with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday to discuss how the pandemic has affected the private sector.

“We demanded a stimulus package worth 4-5 percent of the gross domestic product in the form of subsidised interest on loans for at least six months and requested the government to pay half of the salary to workers for the pandemic restriction period,” said Golchha.

To give impetus to the economy, according to Golchha, the government needs to support industries, particularly the small and medium enterprises, as the ongoing restrictions have put most of them on the verge of collapse.

The small and medium enterprises employ around 2.36 million people, according to a study report of the Nepal Rastra Bank.

Preliminary estimates had suggested that last year’s economic growth could decelerate to 2.27 percent, against the government target of 8.5 percent. But on Sunday the Central Bureau of Statistics painted even a bleaker picture.

According to Central Bureau of Statistics data, at least five of the 15 sectors recorded negative growth in the third quarter of the last fiscal year. Many other sectors are likely to see a negative growth when the numbers for the fourth quarter are released.

Economists say if businesses are not allowed to resume now, the country will struggle to escape a negative growth this fiscal year, for which the government has set a 7 percent target.

With more than a month and a half of the current fiscal year already gone with restrictions in place, businessmen say failure to open the country will mean a major setback to the economy and result in more job losses.

“It’s time we eased restrictions and learned to live with the virus, as no one knows when the vaccine will be available,” said Hari Bhakta Sharma, former president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries. “The country cannot remain locked down forever. The government needs to improve healthcare infrastructure and boost the confidence of health workers as well as the general public.”