Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bharat Mohan Adhikari informed the cabinet on Wednesday that he would present a new budget, giving up the idea of a supplementary budget that has became a subject of controversy in recent days. [break]
"Though a cabinet decision is not necessary, the finance minister informed the cabinet that he is bringing a full budget on May 3," said Education Minister and government Spokesperson Ganga Lal Tuladhar.
The present government initially wanted to bring a supplementary budget as per an agreement reached between Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. But their plan invited opposition from the Nepali Congress and from within the prime minister´s own party CPN-UML as well as from media.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Adhikari said that the upcoming budget of the new government will be ´miraculous´ and will address major concerns of the general public and the private sector.
"The budget will be miraculous. Hence, the Nepali Congress, the party in opposition, is also extending all support to it," said Adhikari, who reached Biratnagar on Wednesday.
Adhikari repeatedly said that the NC was fully supportive of the budget on which he started work from this week. To substantiate his words he referred to applause from NC lawmakers at parliament on Monday when he announced that the government was unveiling an early budget instead of a supplementary one.
Talking to journalists at Biratnagar airport, DPM and FM Adhikari elaborated that the new budget would aim to generate productive assets and also bolster social justice.
According to Adhikari, the new budget will invest in 40,000 families through cooperatives for promoting the domestic production of vegetables, meat, fruits and other produce.
"We possess the potential to produce all these items in any village in Nepal. But we are still spending Rs 30 billion on imports to fulfill the demand," he said, indicating that the new budget will focus on import substitution to manage the country´s widening trade deficit and balance of payments deficit.
Referring to the failure of governments to announce budgets on time, DPM Adhikari argued that the Constituent Assembly should incorporate in the new constitution a provision on announcement of the budget by mid-May.
Adhikari opined that the country has been failing to come up with a budget on time because there is no such timeline mentioned in the law.
"Basically such a situation has prevailed because of the political parties´ own misconduct," he said, adding that it has badly affected development spending, hurting job creation, income opportunities and other socio-economic aspirations of the people.
"If we start the practice of announcing the budget for the next fiscal year by mid-May, we can implement development work smoothly and on time and get work done in the best way possible, for high returns," Adhikari added.
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