Says too early to expect results from Fiscal Year 2018/19 budget
KATHMANDU, Aug 30: Minister for Finance Yuba Raj Khatiwada has urged one and all to show patience, saying that it would take some time for management of fiscal federalism. He also said it won’t be wise to expect results from budget for the Fiscal Year 2018/19 now, as the second month of the fiscal year has just begun.
“It has been just over a month since fiscal federalism model was implemented. We urge all to show patience as it will take some time for the model to work properly,” he said.
The finance minister also said that the government was working to create a strong economy. “We are in the process of preparing necessary laws for fiscal federal. At the same time, we are also working on implementation of the constitution,” he said, adding: So please do not seek results in the implementation phase itself.”
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He also added that the government adopted ‘Build Back Better’ approach after the earthquakes of 2015 which consumes more time and money. “As the government is working to improve the overall system and make the system strong and sustainable, people need to show patience,” he said, adding that the government needs to focus on legal transition after successful political transition.
Stating that the budget for FY2018/19 was prepared with a disciplined approach, the finance minister claimed that there no risk for the country’s economy. “There might be some flaws but that should not overshadow the overall economy of the country,” he added.
Speaking at the 19th Annual General Assembly (AGM) of Society of economic journalists Nepal (SEJON) in Kathmandu on Wednesday, Minister Khatiwada said that such negative thoughts can discourage investors and the government might lose credibility of the private sector.
Reminding healthy economic growth over the past two years, he said that the government was working to achieve higher growth rate than the targeted six percent. “We do not want to depend on import revenue. We are in favor of expanding internal base of revenue, and for that we need industrial investments,” Khatiwada said. “I was overjoyed by revenue collection figures neither in the past, nor now.”
He also added that the basic structure of country’s economy clearly states that the government will work closely with the private sector and cooperatives. “We are always ready for any type of cooperation with the private sector,” he added.
