During a briefing to the prime minister about the current status of the domestic economy, a team of MOF officials led by Finance Ministry Dr Baburam Bhattarai on Sunday also discussed rising inflation despite easing inflationary pressure worldwide.
A source present on the occasion informed myrepublica.com that the prime minister was also informed that the skyrocketing non-budgetary demand has been a matter of concern. On the occasion, Prime Minister Dahal told the MOF team that he is announcing a number of additional programs in his address to the nation on Monday. "However, additional liability for the state coffers due to the new programs will be nominal and the programs will also generate some revenue to the state," the prime minister was quoted as saying.
On the occasion, Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal presented a synopsis of the overall economic condition of the country and informed that major fundamentals of the economy are in good position. Apart from the risks posed to the national economy by the global financial crisis, other sectors of the economy are doing well, an official quoted Khanal as saying.
However, the finance secretary warned that rapidly rising additional financial liabilities could pose a serious challenge to the fiscal balance. Similarly, Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota briefed the prime minister about the overall revenue situation and said the revenue growth rate is around 24 percent though this year’s budget has targeted to achieve a 32 percent growth rate.
"Declining prices of petroleum product and steel, which jointly contribute to a remarkable chunk in the total revenue, are some of the reasons for slow revenue growth rate," he was quoted as saying.
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