Kathmandu, Oct. 18 -- Every Dashain, Sunil Shrestha spent around Rs40,000 to Rs50,000 on average. This year, however, he has had to make reductions. He has allocated only around Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 for Dashain expenses, separating the money only to buy essential goods, specially food items, due to his shrinking income with a decline in business.

"The situation is not like before. My family did not go out to shop in the Dashain market this year," said Shrestha.

Shrestha, 50, who owns Shubham Handicraft that has been selling Nepali handmade paper for the last 28 years, says that business has declined by 50-60 percent since May. "I am planning to not make unnecessary expenditure during the festival and am celebrating only with my family,"...