KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Dr Minendra Rijal has said existing economic structures are blamed for a discouraging capital expenditure in the nation.

Delivering his views on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the upcoming fiscal year in a meeting of the House of Representatives on Thursday, he urged the bodies concerned, lawmakers and the Finance Ministry to undertake efforts to end such culture that promotes a stagnant capital expenditure.

The NC lawmaker stressed domestic food production, promotion of industries and enterprises, and a clear policy on the public-private relations to lessen Balance of Payments (BoP) deficit.

He explained that current economic problems in the nation resulted not just due to the incumbent government, urging people not to forget the fact that the size of foreign loan was increased during the leadership of erstwhile government led by the current opposition CPN-UML.

He took time to claim that the trend of highlighting the railway and ship operation projects, and view tower construction projects had further fueled the issue.

As he said, a cursory look at the priorities of the budget for the fiscal year showed that they were realistic and result-oriented, and urged the ruling and opposition parties to be serious on the issues of economy.