Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. KATHMANDU: Swarnim Wagle has said that the budget for the coming fiscal year 2083/84 has given continuity to the pro-poor and public welfare programmes that have been in operation since the past. Responding to the queries raised in the meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives, he said most of the programmes brought by the previous governments were given continuity.
According to him, if these programs had no basis or were not pro-poor, then it is a different matter, otherwise most of the past programs have been continued by the current budget. On the topic of agriculture sector, Finance Minister Wagle said that the government has brought a new programme to transform the country from subsistence-based agriculture to commercial and industrial agriculture. He said Rs 32 billion has been allocated for fertilizer subsidy and the National Agriculture Modernization Programme has been given continuity.
According to him, a provision has been made to provide production-based subsidy to the projects investing up to two crore rupees in the agriculture sector. Stating that there were complaints that the subsidy provided on seeds, fertilizer and agro materials in the past did not reach the real farmers, he said that a policy has now been adopted to link the subsidy to direct production.
According to him, efforts have been made to make the subsidy-oriented system production-oriented. Farmers can also benefit from this program through contract farming, either individually or collectively. The program has been implemented as a pilot initially and will be expanded if successful, he said. On the issue of infrastructure development, Finance Minister Wagle said that projects of national pride such as Postal Highway, Mid-Hill Highway and North-South Corridor have been prioritized.
Stating that the budget of the Ministry of Infrastructure has reached around Rs 300 billion, he said although it was not possible to address all the demands at once, additional resources could be provided on the basis of work progress. He also informed that the ministries concerned have been given authority to transfer the amount to the projects that are going ahead as per the need. According to him, now there will be no need to rotate the file to the Ministry of Finance for a general transfer.
On the occasion, Finance Minister Wagle said that the government was moving ahead to amend various laws, make arrangements related to ‘sunset law’ and resolve legal complexities related to national parks, forests and environment to make the budget implementation effective.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्
