NEA meets FinMin

Kathmandu, March 27

A delegation of the Nepal Economic Association (NEA) led by its Officiating President Bhawani Dhungana met with Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada, today and briefed him about the pertinent national economic issues and forthcoming plan of activities to be undertaken jointly by NEA and the Ministry of Finance in the changed socio-economic and political context of Nepal.

Officiating President Dhungana while congratulating the newly appointed finance minister said that the NEA has been doing various activities related to the national economy jointly with the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders.

“As the government is engaged in preparing the white paper, NEA also can be an important contributor when it comes to refining economic policy-related issues and effective implementation of programmes announced by the government for the benefit of people from the central level to the local provinces,” a statement issued by NEA quoted Dhungana as saying in the meeting with the finance minister.

“NEA is preparing a paper on fiscal federalism and resource mobilisation mechanisms in the changed federal context of Nepal that can be an effective input document to the current government.”

In the meeting with the NEA delegation, Finance Minister Khatiwada stressed on the need for effective resource mobilisation and making the economy sustainable through proper allocation of resources and revenue generation. Stating that the country is in a risky zone in terms of resources, the finance minister emphasised on the importance of a sustainability mechanism that needs to be in place on time after proper homework.

“There is a huge requirement of infrastructure at the local level for which the government and the relevant stakeholders need to think seriously about to move ahead effectively that will ultimately benefit us,” the statement quoted Khatiwada as saying.