June 12: Lawmakers aired their mixed view on the government's policies, programmes and budget for the next fiscal year, 2023/24. Some of them praised that the budget had many good programmes while others termed it as unbalanced and incoherent.

While taking part in a 'general' deliberation on the annual estimation of the government's revenues and expenditures for the next FY in Sunday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, lawmakers expressed their ambivalent views on the upcoming budget.

On the occasion, Roshan Karki termed the budget as ambitious despite having some positive programmes. He said that the budget lacks programmes aimed at uplifting women and backward communities.

Similarly, Mahendra Bahadur Shahi claimed that the government's policies, programmes and budget lacked coherence. He criticized the uneven distribution of the budget and said that powerful individuals may have influenced the budget allocation.

 Similarly, Shishir Khanal said the budget has failed to bring effective programmes to improve economy. Meanwhile, Prakash Adhikari stressed the need for the government to resolve the issues including that of citizenship bill.

Likewise, Prabhu Sah emphasized the adverse impact of expanding the tax ceiling on farmers, highlighting the economic scarcity as the country's primary challenge. Sah stressed the importance of finding alternative solutions to ensure the financial stability of farmers and foster agricultural development.