Kathmandu. Former Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said that it was necessary to remove the tendency of including unnecessary projects in the budget in the name of popularizing the political leadership.
Commenting on the budget organized by the Economic Media Society (IMSON) to discuss the budget for the fiscal year 2082/83 BS, he said that the trend of including unnecessary projects in the name of popularity has increased now.
“The need of the hour is that the budget cannot be implemented if the political leadership does not have the courage to propose a few projects and implement them fully,” he said, adding, “Nepal’s problem is populism. Dr Mahat said it was necessary to include only the actual projects as the reason for the lack of resources was the lack of capital expenditure.
Stating that the government’s decision to cut more than 4,500 projects in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year was positive, he said it would make it easier to implement the budget. “The previous government led by me had decided not to implement projects worth less than Rs 30 million and not to implement projects worth less than Rs 10 million in the case of the provinces,” he said. ”
Stating that the consumer committee also needs to implement the project through the contract process, he said that the central government should distribute the budget accordingly. Similarly, it was necessary to reduce the multi-year projects of the state government as it was high, he said.
He said the multi-year projects of the state government would pose risks in the future. “There should be no multi-year project at the state level except for any special project,” he said, adding that there would be a shortage of budget in the future due to multi-year projects. Former Finance Minister Dr Mahat also stressed the need of providing tax holiday for the development of information technology and other sectors.
He also said that it was necessary to formulate a policy to provide subsidy only by showing the production in agriculture. “There is a huge amount of vacant land in the hilly areas and industrialists need to pay attention to the use of those lands. We should use these lands and go for modern agriculture,” he said, adding, “Instead of encouraging them to become self-reliant in the agriculture sector, it is necessary to take subsidy by showing production.” ”
Dr Mahat said that many issues have been included in the budget to attract the private sector. He also said that the upcoming budget is based on reality. “The expectations of all sectors are high in the budget, it is difficult to implement accordingly, which increases frustration all around.
Therefore, a positive message will be sent to the people only if we implement it accordingly from now on,” he said. Dr Mahat stressed the need for the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to come up with a monetary policy for the implementation of the budget. “Monetary policy should not only control inflation but also help in the implementation of the budget,” he said, adding, “It is necessary to increase the involvement of the private sector in some projects.” ”
Stating that there are many possibilities and problems in the tourism sector, he said the government needs to pay attention to them as well. “There is a need to build tourism infrastructure and increase air connectivity,” he said. Stating that it was necessary to bring in strategic partners by giving majority share of the private sector for the improvement of Nepal Airlines Corporation, Dr Mahat said it was necessary to increase the number of aircraft.
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