May 11: The government is in the process of preparing the budget for the next fiscal year (FY 2023/24). The government has asked for suggestions from the stakeholders regarding the next year's budget. Stakeholders emphasized that the upcoming budget should solve the problems faced by the economy.

Anil Aggarwal, president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that the government should identify the real needs and address those issue through the budget instead of announcing a populist budget with catchy slogans.

“If we look at the budgets of the past few years, there is a tendency to unveil a big budget with catchy slogans and plans first, and then to downsize the budget after six months. Such a budget cannot solve the problems," said Agarwal.

Hari Gautam, senior vice president of the association, says that the world economy is heading towards recession since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, and the budget should address this issue in order to protect the economy.

“The main objective of the budget should be to increase production and employment. For this, the budget should prioritize industry and production," he said.

Experts say that the size of the budget is usually big just to please the people through populist programmes rather that those necessary.

They also claim that the implementation of such a budget will be weak. They suggest that the government should be serious about this as the budget is not only a statement of income and expenditure but also the basis of development plans.

Subodh Kumar Gupta, chairman of the Trade Committee under the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that the budget should address the concerns of the industry and business sector.

“Production and trade are complementary to each other. In the past, when the government controlled the business, the production was also affected," argues Gupta. "Instead of control the business, what is needed now is the policy of facilitation."

He suggests that the government should also pay attention to the impacts on the consumers when changing the policy related to any business.

Anup Aggarwal, the former president of the Nepalese Youth Entrepreneurs Forum, says that the government should ease the policy to promote entrepreneurship. He said that a policy should be taken to connect youth and entrepreneurship.

“Now is the time for innovation. A policy to encourage start-up and innovation is necessary,” said Agarwal.

Young entrepreneurs are of the opinion that the budget should prioritize the use of technology and maximum utilization of opportunities in the economy. Entrepreneurs have requested to come up with a solid plan to solve the problem of lack of liquidity and high interest rates.

At a time when there is a slowdown in business due to the coronavirus pandemic, the current capital loan guideline has added to the problems of the business community.

Madhav Rajpal, another vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the government must release billions of rupees that have not been paid to the builders.

“Industries related to construction materials can flourish only when the government releases the fund to the builders. This can have a cyclical effect on the overall economy,” said Rajpal.