The target growth rate may be very ambitious, given the fact that the development of IT in Nepal has remained in its infancy compared to most of the other Asian countries. Use of computers in the government sector remains rather low in spite of the fact that there are about 20,000 computers in use throughout the kingdom. For the past few years, the use of computers has generally been limited to non-governmental and private sector employees only. For the Nepalese people the computer is not an essential tool but a luxury item which has recently become more of a status symbol. About 90 percent of the people get their living from farming.
Foreign currency comes mainly from tourism and carpet exports.
Foreign aid covers more than 50 percent of the national budget. According to the Nepal Human Development Report for 1998, about 45 percent of the country s population of about 22 million live in poverty, and over half of the population is malnourished. Nepal s literacy rate of 35 percent remains one of the lowest in the world. Only about 0.5 percent of population have access to telephones and only 13 percent of the Nepalese have access to electricity. Developing countries like Nepal must overcome their isolation from the global economy and become competitive in the production of their goods and services.