Kathmandu, May 18

The Finance Committee of the Legislature Parliament has submitted a 12-point recommendation to the government for the budget of next fiscal year.

As the government is preparing to bring the budget for next fiscal year, the Finance Committee had been holding pre-budget discussions with concerned stakeholders since mid-April. Based on those discussions, the full-committee meeting held today has provided various suggestions to the government related to public procurement law, budget management, development project management, agriculture, industry promotion, infrastructure development and revenue management.

Similarly, the recommendation of the House panel has also provided suggestions regarding distribution of grants and royalty, control on corruption and promotion of financial good governance along with smooth flow of services, generating jobs and labour management.

The budget for next fiscal year should focus on development and improvement of local and provincial governments, data collection and management, market monitoring, education and research along with the health sector, said Krishna Prasad Dahal, chairman of the committee.

“The House panel’s recommendation has already been submitted to Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada and the National Planning Commission,”

Dahal said. He further added that next fiscal year’s budget must give priority to sustainable economic growth rate.

Meanwhile, the committee has recommended that the upcoming fiscal budget should prioritise industrial sectors that help generate employment.

“The major focus of next fiscal’s budget should be on road connectivity, energy generation and construction of tourism infrastructure.

Similarly, the budget should maintain balance while delegating authority to local and provincial governments so that no work responsibility is duplicated,” reads the report.

The report further mentions that the budget should address issues related to modernising the agricultural sector, and promoting new agricultural technologies and scientific researches for the development of the agricultural sector. Besides, the committee has suggested the government to complete the reconstruction and resettlement of earthquake victims without being biased towards any one particular area.

“Above all, the major target of next fiscal year’s budget should be concentrated on promoting exports and replacing imports.

Besides, the budget should be implemented in such a manner that it secures the fundamental rights of the people such as health, education, shelter and social security,” as per the report.