Budget can be sustained by internal resources: Dr. Sharma
A senior government official has claimed that the forthcoming budget for the year 2005/06 could be sustained by internal resources.
Vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shanker Sharma—who is also involved in the budget formulation-- said the budget would focus on poverty alleviation. “The government can raise up to Rs 80 billion as revenue. Apart from that, the government could also effectively mobilize internal loans. Therefore, it would not be difficult to formulate budget totaling around Rs 100 billion,” he said.
Addressing an interaction programme in Kathmandu on Saturday, Dr. Sharma said this year the government expected to collect Rs 72 billion as revenue and that it would not be ambitious to expect that the revenue collection would grow by 12 to 14 percent next year. “Despite the uncomfortable situation prevailing in the country, development expenditure grew by 4 percent this year,” said Dr. Sharma. He said the government hoped to increase this rate to 25 percent next year. He said that in the current fiscal year, around Rs 62 billion were spent as current expenditure.
Former finance minister and central committee member of opposition Nepali Congress, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, however, said it was meaningless to debate on budget at a time when the country was devoid of political freedom. “The economy cannot take off unless democracy is restored and peace is returned,” he said.
Dr. Mahat said the donor community could not believe on the present government as there were no people’s representatives in the country. He alleged that the government was spending on defense sector more than what was allocated in this year’s budget. nepalnews.com by July 02 05
|
