First consensus, then full budget, says Pun

KATHMANDU, OCT 18 -

Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun said on Wednesday that the government had been trying to first develop a common minimum programme (CMP) among the political parties before presenting the budget for the current fiscal year.

The government will have a hard time managing additional funds to pay the salaries of its employees and implement development projects after Dashain as the civil servants have received two months’ pay in advance.

The partial budget released recently as per Article 96 of the Interim Constitution allows the government to spend one-third of last year’s expenses.

Upon his return from Japan after participating in a joint meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pun told reporters that the government first wanted to reach a consensus on the CMP and that the budget ’s issue date would be mentioned in it.

“No matter who remains in power, the budget will be presented on the date fixed in the CMP,” said the finance minister. According to him, the ruling and the opposition parties have formed a small committee to finalise the CMP, and the government has distributed a proposal related to the CMP to the party representatives in it.

Stating that the government wanted to reach a consensus on the budget , it said it had not submitted the budget ordinance to the president for his endorsement as it wanted to reach an agreement with the political parties first to prevent a confrontation.

A few days ago, President Yadav hinted that he would not endorse the budget ordinance submitted to him without political consensus saying that there was no constitutional ground to introduce full and partial budget s in the absence of Parliament.

“In such a situation, political consensus is a must,” he said, addressing a function organised by the Nepal Chamber of Commerce. 

Source: The Kathmandu Post