Nepal, June 2 -- The government earned a mere 2.4 percent return on its share capital invested in public enterprises during the 2023/24 fiscal year, reflecting the poor performance of these state-owned entities.

The Annual Performance Review of Public Enterprises 2025 reveals that the total government investment-comprising both share capital and loans-in public enterprises reached Rs 703.93 billion by the end of last fiscal year. This marked a 5.86 percent increase from Rs 664.94 billion in the previous year. Of this total investment, 51.83 percent was equity shares, while loans accounted for 48.17 percent.

Despite this substantial investment, the government received dividends amounting to just Rs 8.83 billion in the last fiscal year, a...