Delay in budget to hit essential services hard

The delay in budget will hit the essential services hard.
"If the government failed to bring the full-fledged budget within November 15, the patients in the government hospitals would not be able to get medicine," said economist Dr Chiranjivi Nepal.
He categorically said that the essential services at the government hospitals will also suffer due to government's failure in paying salaries to the doctors. "The government staffers including the doctors in the government hospitals and teachers in the government scools will not get salary," he said, adding that the health and education sector will be the primary target of the delayed budget let alone the economic growth.
The economic growth rate (real GDP) in the last fiscal year 2009-10 is estimated around to be 3.5 per cent. But delay in the budget for this fiscal year will hit the gowth for the current fiscal year too bringing it down three per cent.
The failure in paying salary will have its impact the market as without the government expenditure, the market will have to feel the heat.
In absence of full-fledged budget, the private sector is also reluctant to invest puncturing the economic growth.
Due to resignation of incumbent Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal in June, the government brought a Special Budget of Rs 110.21 billion for the regular expenses, under the special provision. But the budget is not enough to propel development activities and the private sector is still waiting for the full-fledged budget that might bring some hope and create conducive investment climate for them.
Despite the Cabinet's directives to the Finance Ministry to prepare for the full-fledged budget for the fiscal year 2010-11, the government fears that the UCPN-Maoists might not agree on budget.
The tradition has that the President announces the government's programmes and policies before the budget is tabled. But the government is prepapring to table the budget without programme and policies this time due to its care-taket status.
The ministry has been preparing for the full-fledged budget for the fiscal year due to no head-way in the political dead-lock and new government formation.
"However, there are some very essential and key issues that could be finalised only after the budget annoucement date is fixed," said a high-lavel sopurce at the Finance Ministry.
"The preparation is on, but in absence of fixed date to announce the budget, w could not finalise various issues," he said, adding that "the budget will follow the Three-Year Interim Plan and won't have any major policy shifts."
Though, the present care-taker government is going to bring the full-fledged budget despite UCPN-Maoists' disagreement, it needs UCPN-Maoists nod to fix the date to announce the budget in the Parliament.
The UCPN-Maoist has been pressuring the political parties on new government formation before the budget, claiming that the care-taker government has no moral and political right to bring full-fledged budget.