Re: Ashutosh Tiwari's Strictly Business column ('Imagine no free market', #203). I am not sure what Tiwari means by 'market-friendly mechanisms into how we want goods and services provided to us'. I am assuming he is referring to market driven economy. The economic variables such as the basic demand and supply are not reliable in Nepal, specially with poor infrastructure and political instability. When economic variables and indicators are not reliable, the market can't determine how or what we want goods and services provided to us. Whether it is a cold store, an airline or a VSAT provider, most of the businesses in Nepal are forced to act with instinct rather than with economic indicators.

D Mahat Baltimore,
USA