KATHMANDU: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma said that the rumors were being spread that that economy was facing crisis and urged not to go by such ‘rumors’.
At an interaction on capital expenditure organized at the Ministry of Finance on Monday, 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 increase their respective capital expenditure by 30 percent by mid-January. He pledged cooperation on his part to complete development projects on time to increase capital expenditure.
According to him, the Finance Ministry was preparing to transfer the fund to other ministries if any ministry fails to spend capital expenditure next year up to 30 percent by mid-January next year. “Whichever ministries can spend capital expenditure as much as possible, those ministries would get the additional budget.” Failure to spend the capital expenditure up to 30 percent will result in a cut off of the budget, he warned.
The Minister also urged the concerned authorities to formulate the rules and laws that help create enabling environment to utilize the timbers of Nepal within the country.
Sharma also appealed with the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security to consider increasing the daily wage from existing Rs 517 to Rs 1,000 per day for those employed under the Prime Minister Employment Program.
Similarly, Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand recommended that the tax-payer hotels and restaurants be allowed to run round-the-clock which, he viewed, would aid in generating more revenue. He pledged to put in place necessary security arrangements for the same.
Likewise, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mahindra Ray Yadav argued that fixing the minimum price of rice would not suffice hence, he opined, the government should also arrange to procure rice from the farmers. According to him, fertilizers could not be provided to farmers on time through the bidding process; hence suggested that the government should consider procuring fertilizers through government-to-government modality.
Also speaking in the interaction, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajendra Shrestha said that vacancy should be announced to meet the need of technical staff in the technical field since 40 percent of total posts remain unfilled.
The interaction was also attended by joint-secretaries of the various ministries including Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Forests and Environment and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies among others.
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