May 25: The government has presented its policies and programmes for the budget of upcoming fiscal year in parliament. The new policies and programmes presented in parliament by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on behalf of the government on Tuesday is nothing but the continuation of the policies and programmes of the previous government with some new programmes added.

The government has given continuity to concept of operating railway and ship of the previous government, which it had earlier called a ‘pipedream’.

The policies and programmes state that the government will complete feasibility study of Rasuwagadi-Kathmandu railway and conduct detailed study of the Birgunj-Kathmandu and Kathmandu Valley Metro service. 

The prospects of water transport in Nepal's rivers will be identified and developed, said the president. The government also announced plans to build another 800 kilometers of roads and upgrade 257 kilometers next year. 

The policies and programmes range from bringing a separate policy to increase capital spending to regulating social media and bringing it under the tax purview next year. 

Although the government has already issued procedures to regulate social media, it has not been able to fully implement them. The government has tried to regulate advertisements on social media after a large amount of dollars started flowing out of Nepal. Some countries, including neighboring India, have formally registered social media in their countries and brought it under the purview of law and tax. 

“In order to increase capital expenditure and facilitate the implementation of development projects, the concept of development including a result-based project management system will be implemented,” according to the policies and programmes unveiled on Tuesday. The government is planning to adopt a separate policy to address the trend of not spending the capital budget. 

The government has also put forward a programme to evaluate the sovereign credit of the country within the next year. 

The annual policies and programmes also includes the implementation projects that can transform the overall structure of the economy. Similarly, agriculture, transport, energy, tourism and information technology are considered as the drivers of economic growth. 

The policies and programmes also mentioned that the value of land will be determined by scientific method after developing an integrated land valuation system based on geographical information. As per the new policies and programmes, arrangements will be made to trade real estate only from specialized institutions. Arrangements will also be made to avail basic services related to land revenue online from the local levels. 

The government has announced the ‘Nepali Production and Consumption Growth Campaign Decade’ in order to expand the market and increase the consumption of Nepali products. 

“We will start a campaign to uplift the economy by increasing domestic and foreign investment in productive sectors with comparative advantage, innovation in small and medium enterprises, market expansion of Nepali products and increase in production and consumption, import substitution and export promotion,” said President Bhandari. 

To make this campaign a success, the Prime Minister Nepali Production and Consumption Growth Programme will be launched and it will be promoted through tax and customs duty exemption and export subsidy. 

The government will take industrial promotion policy to develop a green economy through energy efficiency and use of renewable energy. 

The government plans to review the existing tax system next year. The government is preparing to bring in a budget to replace the import-dependent tax system by domestic production. Accordingly, a review of the tax system has been announced in the policies and programmes. 

The government will also formulate necessary policies and criteria to facilitate revenue mobilisation at the local level. 

According to the concept of digital banking, the national payment system will be strengthened and all financial transactions will be done through electronic means. For the first time, the government is planning to set up a ‘Market and Trade Intelligence’ bureau for international trade information. 

The construction of Gautam Buddha International Stadium at Chitwan will also be undertaken by the government. 

Furthermore, it is also mentioned that the government will set up its own satellite and state-of-the-art security printing press. The current government has announced plans to move ahead with both the projects which were in dispute over irregularities during the previous CPN-UML-led government. 

Stating that the government will give priority to agriculture and bring irrigation facilities in the coming FY, President Bhandari said that the government has adopted a policy to provide irrigation facilities to 22,200 hectares of land, along with the construction as well as maintenance of large and branch canals.