Kathmandu. Economist and former member of the Planning Commission. Ramesh Poudel has said that the budget review has been good and private sector friendly.
Nepal Economic Journalists’ Association (NAFIJ) organized a post-budget program on Saturday. Poudel said the private sector is also happy with the budget. He said that long-term thinking would yield results.
Poudel said that the government formed by the two big parties could do anything for policy departure, but could not do anything. He said that half of the economy is informal, so the government of the two big parties had hoped to deperform the policy for reforms, but could not do so. “The informal economy is more than formal. The informal economy needs to be formalised. This will lead to an increase in taxes,” he said.
Poudel said that the government could do some work on the issue of tax as there was a problem in the economy after Covid-19, but it could not be done. “Although we can estimate the expenditure, the capital cannot be spent,” he said. “Capital expenditure is only 5 per cent of GDP. You have to pay attention to this issue. Expenses are very low. There was a need to increase the bag. But that didn’t happen,” he said.
Poudel said that after the monarchy, all taxes have been increased. Excise duty has increased by Rs 170 billion. He said that it is very good that income tax has increased 10 times before and after 2007. “Revenue is generated from taxes and non-taxes. 85 percent of the revenue is coming from tax. We also have to work on increasing non-tax revenue. When there is a tax based on imports, we also need to improve it. Attention should be paid to grow the bag. There seems to be no focus on it,” he said, adding, “If there is money, it will be a good expenditure, so there is a facility of doubt whether the money will be raised or not.”
Poudel said that the expenditure on health and education should be increased. He said that the expenditure on the sector should be increased to 18 percent from the current 11 percent.
Poudel said that if the budget is increased now, it will also contribute to nepal’s human development after 10 years. He said that investment in children should be increased even if it is spent on old age.
Poudel said that there was a need to make the province as much as Kathmandu. He said that the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the concerned ministries should pay attention to the current expenditure as the compliance is lax. Poudel said the youth-oriented programmes are positive.
Poudel said that although there is a good program, there is a need to pay attention to the implementation. He said that the weakness in the budget is a problem in the source itself. He said that increasing the burden of internal debt can be a problem for investment, so it is necessary to be cautious in this direction.
