Budget has adopted goal of socialism: FinMin

Kathmandu, June 6

The government has clarified that the budget for the coming fiscal year 2019-20 has been allocated in order to fulfil the goal of socialism enshrined in the constitution.

Responding to queries raised by lawmakers in today’s meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR), Minister for Finance Yubaraj Khatiwada said that the budget has addressed the norms and values guaranteed by the constitution and accepted that weakness could be seen on some issues as activities of fiscal federalism implementation were underway.

He said allocating budget worth Rs 800 billion in projects of national reconstruction and national pride was a mandatory responsibility and added that this responsibility has been adopted in the budget.

The issues of the marginalised communities had started to be addressed since 1994-95, and the budget for the coming fiscal year has also addressed this sector, which was left out in the budget for some years, said the finance minister, adding, “I have tried to address marginalised communities in the budget for next fiscal year.”

The government led by the then prime minister Manmohan Adhikari had presented the ‘nine sa’ programme in the policy and programme and budget to address the marginalised community.

Stating that unnecessary discussion has been taking place on the issue of senior citizen’s security allowance, Finance Minister Khatiwada said that the arrangement of senior citizen security allowance has been made taking into consideration the average lifespan of Nepalis.

He said, “Grandfathers and grandmothers have bought stationery for their grandchildren.

They have been spending their allowances for medical treatment.

Is this wrong? The senior citizens are doing the activities that the state has to do. Is this bad?”

Stating the main challenge for the state was urban management, the finance minister clarified that ‘Let Us Build Our Village Ourselves’ programme has been included in the budget with the realisation that the village also was the basis of our modern life.

He said special attention should be given to increasing capital expenditure and since problems have been faced in infrastructure development also because of locals’ obstructions and the construction entrepreneurs not carrying out their works, it would be an achievement if more than 90 per cent of the development budget could be spent.

He stressed that the government was working to increase the development expenditure to the maximum amount and this problem would be addressed to a large extent after some years.

He also expressed the government’s commitment to bring into operation and complete projects that have already been started.

Finance Minister Khatiwada argued that the economic growth rate of 8.5 per cent projected in the coming fiscal year was practical and it would be achieved due to the expenditure to be made by the centre, state and local levels. The finance minister expressed the belief that speeding up of the development of big physical infrastructure projects would also have a positive impact on labour market.

He was of the view that the trade deficit could be decreased through export of services as the Visit Nepal Year 2020 is pursued. The government has declared 2020 as Visit Nepal Year with the goal of bringing in two million tourists in that year.

The finance minister said electricity will not have to be imported from next fiscal year and this would contribute in reducing the trade deficit. But he made it clear that the trade deficit will not be balanced in the next fiscal year.

Around 1,000 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid in the next fiscal, which will greatly contribute in reducing import from India.

Khatiwada also said the government has a plan of providing work to domestic labourers and that the status of unemployment and the unemployed would be known only by studying the labour market structure.

“While the budget for next fiscal year has made a lot of people happy, the next fiscal budget will make everyone happy,” he claimed.