(Hemanta Joshi)
With the speculations of increased economic activities and early recovery, the government is working to prepare the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Concerning the new budget, the key priority of the time is to infuse new hopes into the economy which is slow since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government has to dole out a budget for additional economic liabilities, and social security schemes along with the ruling parties' announcements declared in their election manifestos. In addition, the budget has to focus on the issues of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Former Finance Minister Dr. Yubraj Khatiwada stated that national consensus should be forged on social security schemes. This is to be noted that around 13 percent of the federal budget goes to social security programs.
Against this backdrop, the government is under immense pressure to prepare a practical budget, apply austerity measures, and not unveil new projects creating additional liabilities.
Former Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani said that the current issue is not merely related to economic issues but political ones and suggested that the government should make corrections in its governance. "The government is required to reduce general expenditure, boost the private sector's morale, and bring about reforms in the governance," Dr Lohani added.
Another former Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that a realistic budget should be brought and the morale of the private sector should be uplifted and priority should be given to the agriculture, energy, and tourism sectors.
CPN (UML) leader and former finance minister Surendra Pandey told the RSS that he has given feedback to the Finance Minister to maintain uniformity in social security and implement the projects based on their priorities.
"Social security schemes should be kept in a single basket," Pandey argued.
Dr. Khatiwada and Pandey have suggested that the government should relax monetary policy to some extent by tightening the fiscal policy.
Dr. Khatiwada is of the view that the three layers of government should give priority to the austerity measures and the multi-year contracts should be not ensured with resources.
During the consultations with the former finance ministers, Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that he is working to develop confidence in the private sector and reduce expenses in the context of reduced revenue collection.
Similarly, Dr. Mahat said that he is effortful to address the current complex situation.
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