LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Economic issues raised in Upper House

Kathmandu, Apr. 3 (RSS): At the National Aseembly today, MP Dr. Rup Jyoti, presenting a resolution of public importance, said that the present economic policy should be revised and improved for increasing employment opportunities and effecting poverty alleviation.

Stating that redistribution of property might be a good political slogan but it is not the right method of poverty alleviation, he said that the best long-term measure of poverty alleviation is to provide opportunities to all able persons.

He said that one of the main reasons for our inability to attract foreign investment was the foreign exchange policy and called for basic change in the policy.

Stating that innovative thinking was necessary for reducing poverty in a specific and speedy way, Dr. Jyoti said that policy that encourages all kinds of vocations and economic activities should be formulated to generate employment.

Then, furnishing replies to questions concerning a resolution of public importance raised by the MPs, Minister for Finance Dr. Ramsharan Mahat said that the human development report 10 years ago had placed Nepal in the 152nd position but it occupies 129th position at present, adding that the tendency of seeing good and positive achievements as bad should be given up.

The export to India which was around Rs. 2 billion during the erstwhile Panchayat regime had reached Rs. 30 billion, six to seven hydropower projects had been launched simultaneously, investment in education had reached Rs. 15 billion from 3 billion and there had been dramatic progress in the health sector and in building infrastructure, Finance Minister Dr. Mahat said adding that as a result of the liberal policy pursued in the private and community sector, improvement in the economy had been noticed.

He said that without mobilising the capital outside the scope of the government, economic development of the country could not take place.

Prior to this, taking part in discussions on the resolution, Kashi Nath Adhikari of the CPN-UML said that further increase of poverty even after two five year plans since the restoraion of democracy, the lowest per capita income in the entire South Asian Region, and increase in unemployment were the results of the wrong economic policy pursued by the government.

Jagannath Paudel of the Nepali Congress attributed the adverse impact on the economy to the problem of law and order in the country rather than to the policy of liberalisation and privatisation and said that poverty alleviation and employment generation would be achieved if the government focussed on increasing agricultural output.

Urba Dutta Panta of the CPN-UML said that as the policy of liberalisation and privatisation would never benefit the target group the government should improve the economic policy.

Devendra Ghimire of the same party said that the government should focus economic policy on the interests of the poor.

Shukra Raj Samyok of the Nepali Congress said that large scale industries should be established in all the five development regions of the country to resolve the Maoist problem.

Mahesh Mani Acharya Dikshit of the CPN-UML said that the government should seriously evaluate the economic policy and priority should be accorded to transparency, good governance and prevention of corruption.

Radheshyam Adhikari of the Nepali Congress said that as the economic growth rate had declined after the Maoists issue surfaced, it was clear that the law and order problem had an adverse impact on the economy.

MP Mohan Raj Sharma Chapagai alleged that the Bishweshwar with the poor was confined to seminars only and the government lack vision in good governance.

Tilak Prasad Neupanay of the Nepali Congress said that the government alone was not responsible for the economic ills of the country and industrialists without morals taking loans and plunging the country into crisis were to be blamed.

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