KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 20

Minister of Finance Janardan Sharma said that the rumours being spread that that economy is in crisis are baseless and urged everyone not to be swayed by such 'hearsay'.

Addressing an interaction on capital expenditure organised at the Ministry of Finance here today, Minister Sharma admitted that capital expenditure was dismal and it should be increased to address the issues relating to liquidity crunch.

Calling for amendment in existing acts and regulations relating to forest and environment to increase capital expenditure, the minister urged all the ministries to ramp up the capital expenditure in their respective ministries by 30 per cent by mid-January.

He pledged cooperation on his part to complete development projects on time to increase capital expenditure.

According to him, the Ministry of Finance was preparing to reallocate the funds of the ministries that fail to meet the capital expenditure target. 'The ministries with good capital expenditure performance by mid-January will receive additional budget.'

The minister also urged the concerned authorities to formulate rules and laws to create an enabling environment for utilisation of timbers of Nepal within the country.

Sharma also appealed the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security to consider increasing the daily wage from existing Rs 517 to Rs 1,000 for those employed under the Prime Minister Employment Programme.

Similarly, Minister of Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand recommended that the hotels and restaurants with good tax-paying record be allowed to run round-theclock which, he opined, would help in generating more revenue.

He pledged to put in place necessary security arrangements for the same.

Likewise, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development Mahindra Ray Yadav argued that fixing the minimum price of rice is insufficient to support the farmers and said the government should also make arrangements to procure rice from them.

According to him, fertilisers could not be provided to farmers on time through bidding process and suggested that the government should consider procuring fertilisers through government-to-government process.

Also speaking during the interaction, Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajendra Shrestha said that vacancy should be announced to meet the needs of technical staffs in the technical field as 40 per cent of the total posts remain vacant.

Minister of Forests and Environment Ramsahay Prasad Yadav shared that they were preparing to change regulations to fix the problems prevailing in the forest sector as well as to increase capital expenditure of his ministry.

Minister of Youth and Sports Maheshworjung Gahatraj said that interest rate of the loans to be provided by the Youth Self-Employment Fund should be lowered to encourage more youth for self-employment. He urged the Ministry of Finance to facilitate for the same.

The interaction was also attended by joint secretaries of the various ministries, including the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Forests and Environment and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, among others.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 21, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.