The government has made public the policies and programs for the coming fiscal year with the aim of economic upliftment, developing the agricultural sector and expanding the physical infrastructure sector.
Addressing a joint sitting of the federal parliament today, President Bidya Devi Bhandari made public the policies and programs of the government. The 145-point program highlights the fact that remittance income has improved over the past few months and the growth in tourism revenue has been creating a positive environment, despite the external pressures on the economy due to the unfavorable conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving economic growth and sustainability through the combination of fiscal and monetary policy, the government has outlined agricultural transport, energy, tourism and information technology as the drivers of economic growth.
The government has adopted a clear policy for economic upliftment through special economic recovery programs and keeping inflation within the required limits. The policy and program of the government is to implement projects from the provincial and local level except mega projects of national pride, transformation and of strategic importance. For that, fiscal transfer will be made on practical basis at province and local level.
The government plans to conserve, use and distribute natural resources equitably in coordination between the federal, province and local levels. The basis of economic prosperity will be laid by linking local economies with the national economy. The government aims to make policy, legal and systemic reforms to increase domestic production and industrialization by building quality infrastructure, promoting investment, creating and facilitating business environment.
It will implement other suitable investment and construction structures of public-private partnership for construction of large and strategically important infrastructure and industrial development. The policy and program has given clear guidelines to include development programs and projects with the budget on the basis of national priorities. Budget will not be allocated for projects that have not been prepared beforehand and have not been included in the project bank. The government has given priority to reviewing the existing tax system, creating a clean, transparent and investment-friendly environment, and facilitating local revenue mobilization.
It plans to facilitate credit flow in manufacturing and employment-oriented sectors. For the first time, the government has addressed the issue of developing the agricultural sector as a major driver of economic growth and employment and formulating a new national agricultural policy.
Special program will be implemented for mid-term review of Prime Minister’s Agriculture Modernization Project, utilization of barren land, promotion of value chain based collective and cooperative farming, increase in production of crops like paddy, maize, potato, onion and apple.
