Syllabus for assistant director 3rd level Nepal Rastra Bank.
7 min readFeb 22, 2023
Second paper: Economics
(Part A)
A. Microeconomics
1. Methodology: Inductive and deductive methods;
Economic theories- role and assumptions;
Importance and uses of micro-economics.
2. Theories of Demand: Indifference Curve analysis; Income, substitution and price effects;
Revealed Preference Theory.
Lancastrian demand theory
3. Theories of Production and Cost: Law of variable proportions, Isoquants and their properties;
Cobb-Douglas production function and elasticity of substitution between factors;
Cost curves.
4. Price and Output Determination under Various Market Systems: Perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly;
Boumals sales revenue maximization, Price discrimination and their degrees.
5. Theories of Distribution: Marginal Productivity Theory;
Factor pricing in competitive and imperfectly competitive markets.
B. Development Economics
1. Structure and characteristics of developing economies —
Structural diversities in developing countries;
Determinants of economic growth;
Development issues and challenges;
Contemporary theories and approaches to economic underdevelopment.
2. Poverty, inequality, population growth and development;
Measuring poverty and inequality;
Basic issues and challenges of population growth,
Quality of life — issues;
Migration and urbanization trends and issues.
3. Development policy-making and role of the state — The nature of development planning, rationale, and the planning process;
Problems of implementation and plan failures; Trends in governance and reform.
4. Development planning in Nepal — Development issues in Nepal;
Relevance of planning;
Tools used in the planning process — Cost-benefit analysis, internal rate of return, financial and economic analysis, logical framework analysis;
Challenges of economic development in Nepal.
5. Policy issues in development — Current status and dimensions of economic policies in Nepal;
Economic liberalization policies adopted by Nepal and their impact;
Privatization policy and its effective implementation.
Nepal’s current Industrial, Agricultural, Tourism and Hydropower policies.
Prospects of Foreign direct investment and Economic diplomacy in the context of Nepal.
6. Nepalese context of development the role of remittance and trade deficit. contribution of tourism sector
C. Public Economics
1. Role of government and budget in the economy, instruments of budget.
2. Theory of government expenditure and revenue; revenue policy and revenue structure in Nepal.
3. Problems in public expenditure management and revenue mobilization in Nepal.
4. Fiscal Deficit: Concept, sources of financing and impact on economy. Concept of public debt sustainability; Nepal’ public debt structure.
5. Foreign Aid: trend, composition, major issues, challenges and its utilization in Nepal.
6. Fiscal Policy: Objectives, instruments, importance, crowding out and crowding in effect, Ricardian equivalence, Stabilization through fiscal policy.
(Part B)
A. Macroeconomics
1. National Income Accounting:
Concepts of GDP
GDP measurement: expenditure, Income and value added approach.
GDP computation in Nepal and associated problems.
2. IS-LM Model:
The IS-LM curves — comparative static analysis of IS-LM model;
Changes in fiscal and monetary policy instruments in the IS-LM model.
3. Theories of Consumption and Savings:
Absolute income hypothesis,
Relative income,
Life cycle and permanent income hypotheses;
Rational and Adaptive Expectations.
4. Consumption under uncertainty and risk: inter temporal choice, Neumann –Morgenstern theory
5. Growth Theories:
Harrod-Domar;
Solow-Swan;
Neo-classical model,
Indigenous growth theories
6. Growth Vs Stabilization Policies:
IMF approach to stabilization,
Role of macroeconomic policy in growth and stability.
B. Monetary Economics
1. Theories of Money Demand:
Quantity theory,
Keynesian theory, and
Portfolio theory.
2. Money Supply:
Definition and factors affecting money supply,
High powered money and money multiplier.
Decomposition of high power money.
3. Money and Interest Rate:
Theory of interest rate determination
Term structure of interest rates,
Relevancy of Taylor Rule to determine interest rates.
4. Monetary Policy of Nepal:
Objectives, targets and tools;
Roles of Nepal Rastra Bank in monetary and financial stability,
Alternative monetary policy frameworks.
5. Inflation:
Concepts, classical, Keynesian and modern approach to inflation.
Tradeoff between inflation and unemployment (Phillips curve) and
Price stabilization through monetary policy.
C. International Economics
1. Theories of international trade and investment: from classical to modern theories.
2. Balance of payments:
Causes of disequilibrium and the theories of adjustment.
Elasticity and absorption theory of balance of payment
3. Foreign exchange rate determination —
Theories of foreign exchange, fixed vs flexible exchange rate systems.
4. Regional economic cooperation–
Concept, structure and working of SAARC, ASEAN, EU and BIMSTEC;
Comparative perspective of trade and development;
World Trade Organization (WTO)–Objectives, Structure, Nepal’s commitments and achievements.
5. Nepal’s foreign trade policy —
Bilateral and Multi-lateral trade agreement;
Strategies and issues, Nepal’s trade preference, Foreign direct investment- current status, determinants and the future prospects in the context of Nepal;
Capital account convertibility- relevancy and impact.