Kathmandu. Economist and former member of the Planning Commission. Ramesh Poudel has said that the budget review has been good and private sector friendly. A post-budget program organized by the Association of Economic Journalists of Nepal (NAFIJ) on Saturday. Poudel said that the private sector is also happy with the budget. He said that long-term thinking would yield results.
He said that the government formed by two big parties could do anything for policy departure, but could not do anything. He said that half of the economy is informal, so the government of the two big parties had hoped to deperform the policy for reforms, but could not do so.
“The informal economy is more than formal. The informal economy needs to be formalised. This will lead to an increase in taxes,” he said.
He said that the government could do some work on the issue of tax as there was a problem in the economy after Covid but it could not be done.
He said that although we can estimate the expenditure, the capital cannot be spent.
“Only 5 per cent of gdp is capital expenditure. You have to pay attention to this issue. Expenses are very low. There was a need to increase the bag. But that didn’t happen,” he said.
He said that after the monarchy, all taxes have been increased. Excise duty has increased by Rs 170 billion. He said that it is very good that income tax has increased 10 times before and after 2007.
“Revenue is generated from taxes and non-taxes. 85 percent of the revenue is coming from tax. We also have to work on increasing non-tax revenue. When there is a tax based on imports, we also need to improve it. Attention should be paid to increase the bag. There seems to be no focus on that,” he said.
“If there is money, it will be a good expenditure, so there is a possibility of doubt whether the money will be raised or not,” he said.
He said that the expenditure on health and education should be increased. He said that the expenditure incurred in the sector should be increased to 18 percent from the current 11 percent.
He said that if the budget is increased now, it will also contribute to nepal’s human development after 10 years. He said that investment in children should be increased even if it is spent in old age.
He said that the state needs to be made as much as Kathmandu.
He said that the Planning Commission, The Ministry of Finance and the concerned ministries should pay attention to the lack of compliance when it comes to current expenditure. Poudel said the youth-oriented programmes are positive.
Although there is a good program, there is a need to pay attention to the implementation, he said. He said that the weakness in the budget is a problem in the source itself. He said that there is a need to be cautious in this direction as the burden of internal debt can be a problem for investment.
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