Business community wants committment

The business community today complained that the budget has not given domestic industries a level playing field. They opined that the government has to work with private sector to fuel growth.
"Time bound commitment is needed to boost the confidence of private sector," the entrepreneurs said at an interaction organised by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of commerce and Industry (FNCCI). They also complained the finance minister Surendra Pandey for not giving level playing field to the agro-based industries like sugar, flour, ghee and oil. "Without proper homework the finance minister imposed tax," said Gopal Chhetri, advisor of the FNCCI.
The budget has crushed the Crusher Industry, said Krishna Sharma, president of Crusher Industry that has been paying over Rs 1000 million to the local bodies as various taxes.The budget is not at all encouraging to the export-oriented industries, Prashant Pokharel, president of Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) said adding that the government has to lobby for duty-free quota of Nepali products in the US market as it would benefit domestic products.
Kush Kumar Joshi, president of umbrella organisation of Nepali private sector welcomed the budget but urged for an effective mechanism for the budget implementation. "Government has to clarify the reason of the price hike and cannot always blame private sector," he said. The government has failed to curb price hike that is hovering around 13 per cent.