Government brings ‘Supplementary budget’ bypassing Parliament

No government can bring policy — that can have extra budgetary implications — escaping the Parliament.
However, the government brought a 12-point Immediate Relief Package-2068 on September 9 that has programmes that will add financial liabilities of over Rs 10 billion to the government.
“The Relief Package announced by the Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai last week has budgetary implications as it has added liabilities to the government," former finance minister and Constituent Assembly (CA) member Dr Ram Sharan Mahat told The Himalayan Times today.
Any programmes that will add financial liabilities to the government has to go through the Parliament as it needs Parliament's sanction, he added.
The government has promised to provide 60 per cent subsidy on interest rates on the loan of Rs 200,000 for Self-Employment programme.
Though Self Employment programme that has targeted to create employment for 50,000 persons has raised hopes of the unemployed, it has also brought complications too. The government will have extra burden of Rs 10 billion and there is no resources to support it which will create financial imbalance.
The relief package that was announced escaping the Parliament will create financial anarchy, according to economist Dr Chiranjivi Nepal. The financial institutions could find themselves at the receiving end as loans without collateral at subsidised interest rate without proper loan recovery mechanism could hurt their financial health.
There is also chances of resources misuse at the cost of development expenses, he suspected, adding that government's increase expenses will hit the development activities hurting the capital formation.
"The package also seems to be like Supplementary budget, though it has been named Relief Package," he said, adding that to escape the Parliament that is still discussing the budget, the government termed it as Relief package.
The relief package includes guaranteeing the transitional management, good-governance and corruption control, subsidy in price and easy supply of goods, security provision, and reforms in public service delivery. It has also included banking service, microfinance and taxpayer service, agriculture and rural service, load shedding, drinking water and infrastructure, employment and labour relations, Karnali region and remote areas, social security and development.