Common economic agenda must for economic growth: Former finance ministers

KATHMANDU, Jan 6:

Former finance ministers have acknowledged that political instability and eroding business climate took toll on economic growth over the past two decades.

They also stressed the need to forge consensus on common economic agenda to propel economic growth.

Speaking at an interaction on ´Roadmap for Economic Prosperity of Nepal´ organized by Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) here on Sunday, they underlined the need to develop key sectors of economy like agriculture, hydropower, roads and tourism for greater prosperity.

Former finance minister Dr Ram Saran Mahat said political parties lost precious time on political wrangling instead of putting focus on the much needed economic agenda over the past two decades. “We squandered our valuable time on political disputes, putting the economic issues on the backburner. This affected our economic performance,” he said, adding, “Now, we have no option but to concentrate on economic agenda by forging common understanding among political parties.”
Mahat, who is also a senior leader of Nepali Congress, also stressed the need to increase capital investment to spur economic growth. “We need to increase capital spending, which stands at around 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to around 35 percent of GDP to enhance economic efficiency. For this, political stability is the cornerstone,” added Mahat.

He also explained how the inability to strictly enforce law and order has made adverse impacts on economy.

“We have been confronting of problems in acquisition of land for infrastructure development; industrial unrest is inflicting huge loss on economy. But the government is still not in a position to tackle it,” Mahat said. “We can´t expect investment friendly environment unless the government gets stronger in enforcing law and order to do away with such problems.”

Surendra Pandey, another former finance minister, said the focus should be on economic growth by ensuring smooth development of crucial infrastructure such as roads and energy by restoring political stability in the country.

“We wasted most of our time only on political agenda; time has come to focus on energy, roads and other sectors of infrastructure that accelerate economic growth and generate employment,” Pandey, who is a leader of CPN (UML), said. He also underlined the necessity for scientific land-use policy to ensure optimum utilization of land.

Barsha Man Pun, who is also a former finance minister from UCPN (Maoist), said most of the targets set by political parties in their election manifestoes can be achieved only if political stability is established in the country.

“We can achieve significant rise in per capita income and growth in infrastructure if become successful in restoring investment friendly environment and political stability in the country,” added Pun.

Speaking at the program, Finance Minister Shankar Koirala said economic issues are getting sidelined by political agenda. Koirala, however, expressed hope that the country will lay high priority on economic agenda in the coming days as most of the political parties have already incorporated economic issues with high priority in their election manifestos.

“As political parties are narrowing down their differences on economic issues, we can forge common understanding among them for economic growth in the coming days,” said Koirala.

Presenting an economic roadmap for Nepal, Hari Bhakta Sharma, vice-president of CNI, said the upcoming governments need to restore investment climate with the target of achieving per capita income of Nepalese people to US$ 4,000 in next ten years.

CNI´s President Emeritus Binod Kumar Chaudhary and CNI President Narendra Basnyat also stressed on political stability and favorable business environment for greater economic growth.

Source: Republica