When caretaker finance minister Barsha Man Pun met President Ram Baran Yadav to brief about his
‘populist’ budget today afternoon, he already knew the President would ask him
to come after forging consensus with the opposition.
But he took a chance. He had already briefed caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai about the budget before he called on the President.
The caretaker government’s propaganda failed miserably as the President asked Pun not to be hasty with the budget, but seek consensus.
The caretaker government’s ill intention has been exposed as it postponed the full budget announcement planned for today after the President’s call.
The delay in forging consensus has threatened essential services like salaries for soldiers, teachers and government employees. “The budget is necessary for the lower strata of society with limited income,” said a source at the Finance Ministry.
Though, the ruling UCPN-Maoist blamed the President for the delay, it could not hold a Cabinet meeting to approve the budget and bypass him as Bhattarai could not risk his position by confronting the President.
Though the government says delayed budget is taking its toll on development, it has not been able to spend even one-fourth of the development budget in the first four months of the current fiscal, he said, adding that recurrent expenditure — salaries and administrative expenses — will be affected, the source said.
A special budget brought in mid-July (Rs 161.24 billion) through ordinance as interim public expenditure arrangement, largely focused on the election, but it expires on Thursday.
The Finance Ministry had prepared a budget of Rs 458 billion for the current fiscal, but today’s development has got it postponed. “The government has expanded the income tax net and increased the ceiling of large tax payers.”
Though, the opposition objected to the ‘populist budget,’ it has never taken exception to the budget. “Only totalitarian governments can bypass the President and opposition and bring a budget single-handedly during transition,” said former finance minister and CPN-UML leader Surendra Pandey.
“The country is passing through transition and the UCPN-M’s chief ideologue Baburam Bhattarai is behaving like a dictator,” he said, adding that the government has to first forge consensus to resolve problems before bringing a budget ordinance.
Likewise, Nepali Congress (NC) is adamant about power transfer before the budget is brought, though it is also not against it.
After the Constituent Assembly (CA) failed to draft the constitution and got dissolved, consensus has become a must, the NC said.
But he took a chance. He had already briefed caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai about the budget before he called on the President.
The caretaker government’s propaganda failed miserably as the President asked Pun not to be hasty with the budget, but seek consensus.
The caretaker government’s ill intention has been exposed as it postponed the full budget announcement planned for today after the President’s call.
The delay in forging consensus has threatened essential services like salaries for soldiers, teachers and government employees. “The budget is necessary for the lower strata of society with limited income,” said a source at the Finance Ministry.
Though, the ruling UCPN-Maoist blamed the President for the delay, it could not hold a Cabinet meeting to approve the budget and bypass him as Bhattarai could not risk his position by confronting the President.
Though the government says delayed budget is taking its toll on development, it has not been able to spend even one-fourth of the development budget in the first four months of the current fiscal, he said, adding that recurrent expenditure — salaries and administrative expenses — will be affected, the source said.
A special budget brought in mid-July (Rs 161.24 billion) through ordinance as interim public expenditure arrangement, largely focused on the election, but it expires on Thursday.
The Finance Ministry had prepared a budget of Rs 458 billion for the current fiscal, but today’s development has got it postponed. “The government has expanded the income tax net and increased the ceiling of large tax payers.”
Though, the opposition objected to the ‘populist budget,’ it has never taken exception to the budget. “Only totalitarian governments can bypass the President and opposition and bring a budget single-handedly during transition,” said former finance minister and CPN-UML leader Surendra Pandey.
“The country is passing through transition and the UCPN-M’s chief ideologue Baburam Bhattarai is behaving like a dictator,” he said, adding that the government has to first forge consensus to resolve problems before bringing a budget ordinance.
Likewise, Nepali Congress (NC) is adamant about power transfer before the budget is brought, though it is also not against it.
After the Constituent Assembly (CA) failed to draft the constitution and got dissolved, consensus has become a must, the NC said.
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