Addressing a press conference organized on Wednesday, former finance minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said the Maoist party being the largest party at the Constituent Assembly rejects the budget in principle. “Thus, there will be no cooperation from the Maoists to approve and implement the budgetary programs and policies. However, we will allow the government to bring vote on account bill to save the country from possible financial stagnation,” said Dr Bhattarai.
Dr Bhattarai said that the budget prepared and presented by the "puppet government" has incorporated programs of neo-classical market economy by neglecting people-centric programs unveiled by the former Maoist government. The budget allocated for agriculture development is 24 percent less than the revised investment made last year and new tax policy only serves the interests of rich capitalists, he said.
He also raised serious objection to reduction in budget for Youth Self-employment Program from last year´s Rs 500 million to Rs 350 million this year. He said the government is aiming destroy popular programs launched by the Maoist government. Some of the programs announced by the budget like, providing state grants for inter-caste and widow marriages, which can make no contribution to bringing much-needed social changes, can, in fact, invite various social aberrations, he said.
The budgetary announcement of constituting an Investment Board was a policy announced in the last year´s budget, but the new budget has tried create illusion by portraying it as a new policy announcement, said Bhattarai and alleged that the budget has failed to incorporate changes in institutional arrangements needed in the financial sector to cope with a federal structure.
Dr Bhattarai, who is also the chief architect of the Maoists´ economic policy, said the budget has also failed to bring policies to protect the poor and deprived people from the impacts of record inflation. “The willy-nilly policy adopted in raising allowances of civil servants has unnecessarily agitated them,” said he.
Commenting on the targets set by the budget, he said there are no convincing grounds that the revenue target set by the budget is achievable and the government, which has weak moral ground, can mobilize foreign aid worth Rs 78.51 billion. “The budget has not outlined convincing sources for deficit financing of the budget,” said Bhattrai.
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