Separate mechanism to prepare budget: Pun

KATHMANDU, June 1: 

Caretaker finance minister Barshaman Pun said that the government will form a separate mechanism comprising of representatives from major political parties to prepare the budget for the next fiscal year.

Speaking at a press meet organised here in the capital, he said that the government will request representatives from major political parties who are responsible for financial issues to help prepare the budget. “The same mechanism will be utilised to draft a minimum economic programme as proposed by the private sector.”

However, after the ‘death’ of the constituent assembly that had also been working as a parliament, the government is preparing to bring the fiscal policy through ordinance. Currently, the UCPN-Maoist is in the government but both Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are out of the government making it difficult for the government to bring the budget unilaterally without consulting them.

But Pun claimed that the government is committed to bringing a separate minimum economic programme to boost the morale of the private sector. “Minimum understanding among political parties is a must to bolster the confidence of the private sector,” he added.

He also pledged that the basic principles which the state has adopted for the last 12-13 years (after 1990) will not be changed in the next budget.

In the coming budget, the government will recognise the private sector as the main pillar for overall development, said Pun, adding that the government will put its effort to expedite capital expenditure in the remaining time of the current fiscal year. The government has not been able to spend its capital expenses since the last couple of years and has not only lost the opportunity to create employment but also in constructing the basic infrastructure that are key to development.

Though Pun has claimed to have encouraged all concerned agencies to carry out activities to ensure capital expenditure, the government has spent only a little over half of the earmarked Rs 72 billion in development activities by the end of the 10th month of the current fiscal year.

Source: THT