September 14: Although the ground reality is different, it seems that the government is happy with the economic indicators. The government has expressed its satisfaction with the current state of the economy stating that there has been a ‘significant improvement' in the economic indicators as mentioned in the progress report of the ministries released on Wednesday.

A progress report, comparing the progress of the current fiscal year with the previous two fiscal years, were published during the 'Review of Policies and Programme and Budget Implementation of the Fiscal Year 2080/81' at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

The progress report indicates that the country’s foreign exchange reserves and remittance inflow have increased, the current account balance is in surplus, and the trade deficit has decreased.

The private sector, on the other hand, is complaining that the production of industries has reduced due to the decline in market demand, and that it is difficult to maintain their business due to the slowdown in economic activities.

Even other government data do not indicate an easy situation. Imports and exports have decreased compared to the previous year. Although the budget aims to increase the revenue by more than 48 percent compared to the previous year, the revenue collection as of Wednesday is pathetic. The data of revenue collection is a strong indication that economic activities have not increased.

On the same day that the government released the progress report stating that the indicators of the economy are positive, the state-owned news agency RSS published a news report stating that the industries of Hetauda industrial area are producing only at 40 percent of their capacity. It is mentioned in the news that it was due to the economic recession.

The progress report mentions that although there has been a significant improvement in the implementation of policies and programmes and budget in this fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year, the government has not made progress as per the target. Even though the government says that there has been a significant improvement in the economic indicators and budget implementation, experts are not ready to accept it.

Former Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Pushparaj Kandel says that there has been no improvement in the economy. He says that the government is not able to adopt the right policy and the economy has become stagnant and is falling into recession.

Kandel argued that even after the announcement of the budget, the policy arrangements have not been implemented yet. "Most of the plans and programmes announced in the budget have not been implemented, the government's report has no meaning," he told New Business Age.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that the trend of shying away from one’s responsibility has led to poor results. Stating that the employees should be able to take risks according to their mandate, he instructed the employees to work effectively.

After the presentation of the progress report during the programme, Prime Minister Dahal said that the attitude of being ready to take risks will give good results. "All of us should think in the direction of bearing responsibility. The tendency to shy away from one’s responsibilities does not give results," he said. "Effective results will come only if all employees are ready to take risks.

The progress report mentions the details of the works done by various ministries of the government in the year 2079/80.

The report card includes the list of milestones, completed work, ongoing work and pending work of all the ministries.