Kathmandu, May 2

The government is set to present its policies and programmes for the fiscal 2019-20 at the federal Parliament tomorrow.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to present the policies and programmes of the government in the joint session of the House of Representatives and National Assembly at 4:00 pm tomorrow, according to the Parliament Secretariat.

According to the Parliament Secretariat, the policies and programmes will be discussed in the Parliament on May 6 and 7. On May 8, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will answer questions raised by lawmakers on the government’s policies and programmes before it is endorsed by the Parliament.

Following the endorsement of the policies and programmes, pre-budget discussion will begin in both houses. As per a constitutional provision, the pre-budget discussion should be completed 15 days before the budget is presented on May 29.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have said that the policies and programmes of the government, unlike the previous practice, should not be populist and merely introduce aspirations of the government. “The government should introduce programmes that can be started and completed within 2019-20 and try to address aspirations of the country,” said Swornim Wagle, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission.

Wagle added that the policies and programmes should focus on the delivery mechanism. “Though the budget is based on the policies and programmes of the government, governments of the past had time and again failed to maintain proper link between policies and programmes and the budget,” he told THT.

Hari Bhakta Sharma, former president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, said the government should prioritise capital formation, resource mobilisation and industrial growth in its policies and programmes and the budget. “Capital formation is crucial for business growth and overall development process. Policies and programmes should focus on that,” he said.