Kathmandu. Former Finance Minister and Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada, has said that it is not possible to achieve an economic growth rate of more than 5 percent without taking internal loans.
Speaking at a pre-budget discussion program organized by IBN Media in Kathmandu on Sunday, he said that even if the size of the loan increases, it is not possible to achieve an economic growth rate of 6-7 percent without taking such loans. Stating that he had specified areas for internal loans when he was the Finance Minister, he said that now it is not enough to specify only areas, but to take internal loans by specifying projects.
He said that such things are also in the bill to be issued by the government to establish a fund related to alternative finance, and the foreign aid policy. According to Khatiwada, the recent policies and programs introduced by the government have emphasized information technology.
According to him, the government has decided to start a ‘Youth Generation Startup’ program targeting the ‘Genji’ generation by determining ‘business plans’ and their ‘ecosystems’ in all enterprises. Khatiwada said that this will increase income-generating opportunities by creating internal employment through entrepreneurship.
He said, ‘There is a lot of talk about raising internal debt or not. There is 317 billion of internal debt to be paid next year. We usually said that if we achieve a 5 percent economic growth rate, it will be fine. But now we have started looking for a higher growth rate. When I was the Finance Minister, the growth rate was 6-7 percent, and the debt had also increased at that time. Our revenue cannot even cover current expenses, we are forced to take loans for development. We cannot achieve economic growth of 6-7 percent without taking loans. Every finance minister is forced to take loans to achieve a growth rate of 5 percent or more.’
Says that when it comes to austerity, foreign travel comes to mind, Khatiwada said that a larger amount of expenditure is being spent on software than on foreign travel. According to him, the problem in public procurement has not been resolved yet, and to address it, an amendment to the Public Procurement Act will be presented in the upcoming session.
When questions were being raised about the reports given by government commissions not being implemented, Khatiwada said that such reports cannot be implemented. He said that such reports are not complete, and that there is a delay in implementation because he suggests studying them. According to Khatiwada, the government is preparing to implement the reports of the Economic Reform Commission and the Expenditure Review Commission in a phased manner.
While the government is being criticized for the upcoming budget being large, Khatiwada said that there is no figure for the size of the budget. According to Khatiwada, a budget that is sufficient for the resources should be kept. There has been a trend of reducing the budget by 3.5 trillion, which would go against the spirit of the Appropriation Act, Khatiwada said. According to him, a maximum of 10 percent can be reduced, if more is done than that, it is not right, it is not in accordance with the law.
Says that the government has started monitoring government files, and Khatiwada mentioned that the government is now considering moving forward by adopting other technologies such as the Nagarik app.
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