Delay in budget approval affecting dev projects: FinMin

KATHMANDU, April 28:

The Finance Committee of legislature-parliament on Sunday sought information on the budget formulation process from the Minister for Finance Dr Ram Sharan Mahat.

On the occasion, committee members questioned Mahat on slow implementation of development projects.

Responding to questions raised by the committee members, Mahat said problems have surfaced due to delay in approval of the budget by the parliament and approval of the programs by the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Mahat also said the government would send budget document to the parliament for approval by the last week of May. “The government has sufficient funds for development projects. The main problem lies in budget execution,” he told the first meeting of the committee.

Saying that development projects were suffering because of the Public Procurement Act which requires government agencies and developments projects to take the service of low bidders, Mahat said low bidders always work with the motive of cost escalation and keep the project pending. “It is one of the reasons why we are failing to get development results in time.”

Mahat also said the government should invest in productive sector for capital formation. But the finance minister is facing pressure from civil servants who are pushing for salary hike.

The committee has asked the Ministry of Finance (MoF), National Planning Commission (NPC) and Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Cooperatives to send their representatives in its meetings.

TASKFORCE SUBMITS REPORT

Meanwhile, the Revenue Exemption Impact Evaluation Taskforce submitted its report to Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat on Sunday.

The taskforce, led by the former secretary Bal Govinda Bista, has recommended to the government to end the system of tax exemption using personal discretion of tax officers.
The report shows that the government exempted taxes worth Rs 30 billion in fiscal year 2012/13 alone.

Source: Republica