March 22: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has said that the government will bring a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives at Singha Durbar on Thursday, Minster Pun expressed commitment that the government will maintain a balance in the budget within its resources and limits. He shared that issues including modernization of agriculture, marketization, management of capable human resources in inland-revenue, making customs transparent would be prioritized in the coming budget.

The finance minister stressed that a budget incorporating the activities carried out by the erstwhile government would be brought as per the current need and relevance. He added that the government will give priority to national pride projects in the budget.

The upcoming budget would address the issues of production-oriented sector, agriculture, industry, tourism, education, health and information technology with the commitment of building socialism-oriented national economy imagined by the constitution, the minister said.

The government plans to adopt a policy of involving massive human resources in agriculture and for modernizing the agriculture sector through the budget. During the meeting, the finance minister said a study suggests that Nepal is capable of exporting software services worth Rs 500 billion in the next five years and the budget for the upcoming fiscal year will prioritise this potential.

In the previous fiscal year, export of Nepal's software services and related equipment amounted to Rs 76 billion, he said.

The finance minister promised to give top priority to the IT sector in the upcoming budget and to create job opportunities for an escalating size of IT human resources within the country. He said that the annul production of IT human resources in the country stands at 10,000.

The minister also pledged to address the concerns and recommendations of lawmakers regarding issues of agriculture, energy, tourism, education and health in the budget. Committee President Santosh Chalise advised the government to focus on the production and export-based sector, electricity, tourism promotion and the modernization of agriculture.

The committee held discussions with the finance minister about the priorities and principles (except taxation) of the Appropriation Bill for the fiscal year 2081-82 BS (2024-25). The Committee members advised the government to allocate budget on the need basis. They also demanded the finance minister allocate budget focusing on the acceleration of projects of national priorities and revival of sick projects.

Former Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said the budget should be brought on the basis of need and not on proximity to power. He stressed that the next fiscal year's budget should be focused on meeting the SDGs, completing the incomplete projects and for balanced development.

Likewise, lawmakers Dipak Khadka, Narayani Sharma, Metmani Chaudhary, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, Chhiring Dumdul Lama (Bhote), Ganga Karki, Rana Kumari Magar, Anjali Shrestha and Mukta Kumari Yadav said the budget should be practical and not populist. It should be oriented towards import substitution, increasing the revenue collection and adequate budgetary allocations should be made for agriculture, education, health sectors. -- RSS