Interim public expenditure arrangement passes through

Amidst outcry from the opposition, the caretaker government led by Dr Baburam Bhattarai today brought a 'special budget' of Rs 351.93 billion as an interim public expenditure arrangement.
According to the Interim Constitution, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav gave the incumbent government consent to mobilise revenue and spend on ongoing development works and recurrent expenditure that is regular salaries and administrative expenses,  said caretaker finance minister Barsha Man Pun.
“The government has allocated Rs 51.29 billion for votable expenses — that is expenses for head of state, vice president and other heads of constitutional bodies and judges — and Rs 300.64 billion non-votable expenses making up for a total of Rs 351.93 billion,” he added.
However, the government is not happy with the second interim public expenditure arrangement as it wanted a full-fledged budget,” Pun said, blaming the opposition for its 'own failure' to forge political consensus for a full budget.
“Due to elusive political consensus, the government was forced to bring a special interim public expenditure arrangement again,” he added.
Blaming parties opposed to the monopoly budget -- that could have influenced election -- of the caretaker government, he said the government had brought the the special arrangement to rescue the country from financial catastrophe. Pun had brought Rs 161.24 billion special budget as an interim public expenditure arrangement on July 15 after the Parliament’s ‘death’ on May 27.
Though the economy is not sailing smoothly, the government has been able to record encouraging revenue mobilisation, the finance minister said, adding that the government had mobilised Rs 57.42 billion revenue by end of the first quarter of the current fiscal. “Revenue mobilisation has registered 31 per cent increment compared to the same period last fiscal.”
Though, there has been no change in revenue policy, the current trend, if it continues, will help mobilise over Rs 315 billion in the current fiscal year.
The continuation of the first special budget, Pun brought on July 15, the current interim public expenditure arrangement will allocate expenses for election, army integration, social security, salary for civil servants and security forces, load-shedding reduction programme, matching fund for donor funded projects and ongoing projects of national pride.
The two-third budget — which is the actual spending of last fiscal year’s budget of Rs 384.90 billion — has allocated Rs 10 billion — Rs 4 billion from direct budget and Rs 6 billion from Peace Fund — for election, Rs 3 billion for load-shedding reduction programme, Rs 3 billion for reconstruction and widening of roads in Kathmandu and Rs 2.5 billion for fertiliser subsidy.
Though, the President approved the budget with pre-condition, Pun said there were no strings attached to the budget. The President has directed the caretaker government not to transfer funds and encourage financial indiscipline as there is no monitoring agency in an absence of Parliament.
Likewise, CPN-UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and Nepali Congress vice president Ramchandra Poudel disowned the budget as it had been brought without consulting them and mocking consensus politics.
Likewise, commenting on the budget, secretary of CPN-Maoist Dev Gurung said his party was against the President’s move. He claimed that the unconstitutional move had prolonged the life of Bhattarai’s government. “The President has no authority to endorse the budget brought without consensus,” Gurung said, adding that Bhattarai’s government would lose legal grounds on November 22, but approval of the budget would prop up the government.

FNCCI seeks full-fledged budget

KATHMANDU: The umbrella organisation of the domestic private sector — Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) — has asked the government to bring a full-fledged budget to boost the morale of entrepreneurs and to propel economic growth. Though the ordinance budget has removed suspicion of a financial vacuum in the country, it has however, failed to generate hope among the people, said FNCCI. "The budget did not address the issue of price hike that has been burning a hole in the common man's pocket," it said, adding that it could also not instill confidence among investors. The apex body of entrepreneurs has also doubted the budget for its ability to help operate ongoing projects. "As there are no new projects like hydropower mentioned in the budget, it will definitely hamper the development process and discourage the private sector due to the increasing energy crisis," it said. FNCCI has also urged the government and political parties to bring a regular budget as soon as possible through consensus.