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Govt holds interaction with agro-sector to prepare budget for next FY

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Five-member committee formed for budget writing

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Finance has started the homework for preparing the budget for the next Fiscal Year 2022/23. The ministry interacted with various stakeholders related to agriculture on Tuesday and moved ahead with the homework of budget formulation. Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini informed that interaction was held to give the message that the work of budget formulation has started. He said that even though the agriculture sector has been given high priority in every policy programme and budget, there has been no increase in production and everyone is worried about the increasing imports. "A large population depend on agriculture, but we have to be serious about why the living standards of that population have not improved so much. So, we expect suggestions for this in today's interaction,” he said. Addressing the interaction, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said as agriculture is the first priority, we have started gathering suggestions from the agriculture sector. "In the forthcoming budget, there will be a policy of incentives for farmers, not subsidies for agriculture," he made it clear. The interaction has been organised to get suggestions on what kind of policy, programme and budget should be made," he added. Minister Sharma said that the problem has arisen due to non-implementation of adequate budget allocation for agriculture. He said, "As per the policy and programme, the budget has been allocated to provide 80% subsidy in premium to those who have agriculture insurance. However, the farmers have complained that they do not know anything about such policy," he said and added, "There is no alternative but to motivate the farmers to achieve the goal of self-reliance in the agricultural sector," he said.

Suggestions from farmers, businesspersons and experts During the interaction, suggestions were made to formulate policy suitable for Nepal's soil, to facilitate exports of goods, to provide agricultural loan up to Rs 5 million without collateral, to implement land use policy, to take responsibility for implementation after fixing minimum support price, to increase productivity, increase food production, make returnable with respect to investment. Devika Budathoki, president of Nepal Entrepreneurial Women Federation (NEWF), who participated in the interaction, said that they have exported agricultural products to different countries and urged to raise capital for investment. "At present, there is a provision of concessional loan of Rs 5 to 1.5 million without collateral. This arrangement has made women self-reliant, ”she said.“ If it can be increased to Rs 5 million it will be of great help for creating employment for rural women. On the occasion, Arun Raj Sumargi, Central member of the Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), suggested developing a research centre. Entrepreneur Paul Golyan opined that government should facilitate a loan of Rs 5 million without collateral. He was of the view that the agricultural sector will be developed if the policy was adopted to encourage not only the entrepreneurs but also the farmers. Likewise, Dr Krishna Poudel said that agriculture should be done for consumption. He said that the policy of producing enough food for all should be adopted keeping employment, income and return as the second priority. Former Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri suggested that the government take responsibility for the implementation of utilisation policy after fixing the minimum support price and increasing production by learning from neighbouring countries. Present in the interaction included member of the National Planning Commission Dil Bahadur Gurung, businesspersons belonging to various organisations related to agriculture, former employees retired from the agricultural sector, farmers' representatives among others.

Budget Writing Committee formed in coordination with chief of Revenue Management Division Baral A meeting chaired by Finance Minister Janadarshan Sharma on March 13 formed a five-member budget drafting committee. Chief of Revenue Management Division Bhupal Baral is the coordinator of the committee. Other members of the committee are Chakra Bahadur Budha, Chief of Budget and Programme Division; Ishwori Aryal, Chief of International Financial Aid Coordination Division; Mahesh Acharya; Chief of Economic Policy Analysis Division and Baburam Subedi, Chief of Financial Federalism Coordination Division. The five-member committee has been assigned in two areas of responsibility.

To draft the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill to be introduced in both the Houses — National Assembly and House of Representatives — of Parliament
To prepare and submit the budget statement for the Fiscal Year 2022/23

The committee will carry out budget-writing in coordination with Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Puskar Karna, Senior Economic Adviser Surendra Kumar Upreti and others. READ ALSO: