Speaker says 'no' to proposal of skipping pre-budget discussions

KATHMANDU:

House Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang has indicated that he will not use the discretionary power and give waiver to the practice of holding pre-budget discussions to pave the way for early launch of next fiscal year’s budget.

The statement suggests that Ministry of Finance will not be able to submit the budget document to Legislative-Parliament within mid-June as proposed.

“I am of the view that pre-budget discussions should be held at the Parliament as they allow people’s representatives to lay various suggestions and give feedback,” Nembang told the special general meeting of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the largest umbrella body of the private sector, today, in Kathmandu.

He further said, “These discussions may push back the date of budget document submission, but I strongly feel we should hold these dialogues.”

The government had earlier proposed to submit the budget document at the Parliament by mid-June to make sure it is endorsed on time and budgetary programmes are implemented right from the start of next fiscal.

To ensure early submission of the budget document, the Legislature-Parliament was supposed to hold budget discussions from May 30.

However, obstruction created by opposition parties — which have put forth various demands — led to cancellation of House proceedings till today.

As House disruption raised chances of delay in launch of next fiscal’s budget, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, in an exclusive interview with The Himalayan Times, had said that the obstruction created by opposition parties should not necessarily hold back the government from submitting the budget document within the proposed timeframe of mid-June, if the Speaker intervened in the matter and said the government could submit the budget document without holding pre-budget discussions.

But the statement given today by the Speaker indicated he would allow the pre-budget discussions to continue for 15 days as stipulated by the law.

“We know the House proceedings have been obstructed for the last several days. But these roadblocks should not be used an excuse to do away with pre-budget discussions ... However, I am never in favour of such disruptions as they prevent voices of people from reaching the Parliament,” Speaker Nembang said.

Nembang made the statement as FNCCI President Pradeep Jung Pandey said that House disruptions of the last few days were not being taken positively by the private sector.

“The disruptions at the Legislative-Parliament have made us suspect whether political parties have once again begun pushing the country to the verge of indecision. We hope these suspicions won’t turn out to be true, and the Constituent Assembly will complete all tasks within the deadline and give us a constitution which could expedite socio-economic transformation,” Pandey said.

Pandey, meanwhile, also asked the government to immediately draft the Chamber Bill to institutionalise chambers of commerce and industry established in the country.

“We have long been demanding the introduction of such a law, but the government has not taken any initiative in this regard,” he said, adding, “The FNCCI is willing to extend all support to draft the Bill.”

Source: THT