One of the major problems the country has been facing is poor capital spending
MAY 21
President Ramchandra Paudel presented the policies and programmes of the government at the joint session of the Federal Parliament for the fiscal year 2023/24 on Friday.
Major highlights of the programmes include institutionalising a socialist-oriented economy, fully implementing the constitution and federalism, carrying out economic reforms, frugality in public expenditure, increasing production and employment and controlling corruption.
Active participation of the private sector, agile revenue administration and effective capital expenditure are the major commitments of the government to expedite the country's economy. The policies and programmes have vowed to increase production and employment with the mobilisation of foreign investment.
The government has expressed its commitment to make reforms in the tax system and revenue administration, bringing all types of economic activities into the formal system. It plans to increase capital expenditure and cut public spending by strengthening the Public Procurement Monitoring Office.
The government has also pledged to revise or amend the Public Procurement Act or rules so that the development works can be expedited without any delay.
The policies and programmes, which were presented one week before the presentation of the fiscal budget, pledge to launch new initiatives, including the provision to allow citizens living abroad to vote in the periodic elections.
The Supreme Court has already issued a directive order to the government to make a law so that the people living and working abroad could exercise their voting right from abroad in the three tiers of elections. This is not possible without drafting a law and developing procedures about casting votes from abroad. When it comes to implementing federalism, the government needs to formulate laws so that the provinces can function independently. The civil service and police administration must be restructured in line with the spirit of federalism.
There is little room for criticising the government' policies and programmes. The only problem is their non-implementation with budgetary support. The fiscal budget does not carry the spirit of the policies and programmes, which outline the general principles of the fiscal budget. Even if budget is allocated to execute the policies and programmes, they are hardly implemented for want of institutional capacity.
One of the major problems the country has been facing for decades is poor capital spending. Under the new constitution, the fiscal budget is presented on May 28 or Jestha 15 every year, one-and-a-half months before the new fiscal year begins. This provision was included in the constitution so that allocation of fiscal budget could be released in time for the timely conclusion of development works. So, the challenges for the upcoming fiscal budget lie in their implementation. Economic activities and employment opportunity can be accelerated provided that the government institutions effectively spend the capital expenditure in a time bound manner. The role of the private sector is vital in accelerating economic activities. But the government must act as a facilitator and remain consistent with its policies.
The government must be clear in which areas it wants to focus on so that the country's economy can get a boost.
