Finance minister assures budget will be implemented

Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has requested people not to doubt on whether the budget for fiscal year 2078/79 announced on Saturday will be implemented.

During an interaction held today with journalists regarding the estimated income and expenses that have been mentioned in the budget, Minister Poudel reiterated that the budget has been introduced after much planning and will be effectively implemented.

He further stated that the budget had not been announced just for the sake of it and that the government will do its best to meet all the targets that have been mentioned in the budget. At present the major focus of the entire country should be on COVID-19 and its impact on people and the economy, and the budget has tried to address that issue, Minister Poudel mentioned.

The finance minister assured that the plans and programmes that have been introduced to control the spread of the coronavirus and for its treatment will be fully implemented. He also mentioned that the government is making efforts to revive the economy like how it was in the past and that plans which have been included in the budget are towards that measure.

Minister Poudel further stated that discussions on budget implementation will be started from Monday itself and implementation of the budget will start immediately. He reiterated that the budget will be implemented and again urged people not to doubt the government’s motive.

He also informed that the government had separated the necessary funds needed for the mid-term elections and that the government will mobilise all resources to hold the elections in a transparent manner.

The finance minister added that the government had not overlooked the challenges brought about by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the budget had taken that into consideration while preparing policies and programmes related to revenue. He further added that after a majority of the people has been vaccinated against the coronavirus economic activities will gather pace and the revenue targets are based on the fact that the economy will rebound to what it was in the past.

Minister Poudel stated that the budget had not been introduced to influence people before the mid-term elections. It is to fulfil the government’s responsibility, he added.