By Our Reporter
In about three months the government will be tabling its annual budget. However, preparations of the budget have been affected due to COVID-19 induced lockdown. Again the people, mostly the business community, badly affected by lockdown are expecting relief packages while the people in general relief materials as they lost jobs.
Now all the business activities have come to a complete halt owing to the lockdown lasting for about one and a half months. Industries are closed. Tourism activities have come to zero with closure of hotels and aviation services. Planes have been grounded and the airlines companies are unable to pay their staff members. Shops are closed, vehicles have been off the road leaving drivers and helpers jobless. Export has stopped. Remittance has dropped as the entire world has under the grip of coronavirus shutting all economic and business activities. Thousands of Nepalis working abroad are waiting for their rescue and the government needs to engage them in employment once they arrive home. Then how will be the budget?
Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada in an interview with the state-owned English daily, The Rising Nepal, said that the budget would be guided by the 15th periodic plan and government policy and programmes. He further said the gap created by the slump in remittance would be filled up by the international financial support.
“The pandemic has hit the employment, investors’ confidence, planning and enthusiasm. This crisis will affect the growth next year as well. However, we are hopeful that we will recover soon,” he said.
He admitted that the crisis would have a profound impact on individual’s perspective on life, society, employment and economic activities.
The government that had, prior to the pandemic, aimed for at least 6.5 to 7.5 per cent growth, has now revised it, and it is likely to be around only 2 per cent.
The budget, Dr Khatiwada told the same daily, would also be directed to address the challenges created by the COVID-19 in the health and economic sectors.
“Contraction in economy, employment and resources are the biggest challenges that need immediate response from the government side. Likewise The budget of the sub-national bodies will also be prioritised in the context of the current crisis,” he added.
Even the size of the budget this year is likely to go down. The government is also planning raise internal debt with the need assessment.
When the federal government will be finding it difficult to pay the civil servants, the local levels have blown their budget by distributing the relief. As such, development projects will face a shortage of budget. The institutional corruption protected by the politicians will further affect the construction of the projects. Hence, the coming one year will be the most difficult period for Nepal.
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