Remodeling Economy
PRIME MINISTER and President of the ruling
Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala clearly and openly spoke of the need for
accelerating the pace of country’s economic and social development by remodeling
Nepal’s economy and formulating economic policies taking into account the national
needs as well as new trends in the international economy. Prime Minister Koirala,
inaugurating a workshop on " Economic achievement and challenges of the past and
strategy for the Future" in Kathmandu the other day, said that economic policies and
programmes should be designed in a way that represent the true aspirations of the poor
segment of society. Ever since its inception, the Nepali Congress has been advocating
democratic socialism. As such, the observation of Premier Koirala, who is the head of the
ruling party as well as the government, for remodeling Nepal’s economy to represent
the demands and needs of the poorest segment of the society should be viewed in this
light. It is true that unless and until the poorest segment of society is not brought to
the mainstream of national development, the long-term and sustainable economic development
of the country is not possible. Thus, the government has come up with its commitment in
terms of policies as well as programmes for alleviating poverty and uplifting the overall
condition of those living below the poverty line and who constitute almost half of the
total population of the country. In order to make the poverty alleviation programme a
success and bringing the poor people into the mainstream of development, more focus and
emphasis have to be laid on the development of agriculture, tourism and water
resources—all of which are the backbone of Nepal’s economy and country’s
long-term development. As said by Premier Koirala, all political parties, whose concerns
are also to attack the massive poverty in the country, need to give priority to the
development of these sectors and extend cooperation to achieve the government’s lofty
goal of poverty alleviation.
At a time when the budget session of Parliament
has already been summoned and the government is busy working for the preparation of the
budget for the next fiscal year, the observations of Prime Minister Koirala as well as
Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya, who also spoke at the same function, regarding
nation’s economic policies, definitely carry special significance. Since all this
speaks of the firm intention of the government’s policy to liberate the people and
the country from the clutches of poverty and underdevelopment, it behooves upon all to
forward cooperation from their respective side.
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