The Finance Ministry is presenting the new finance ordinance on Thursday’s cabinet meeting for approval. The ordinance has, among others, proposed administrative reforms, slashing of the prices of mobile sets and some electronic goods.

According to the various published reports, the ordinance is a constitutional compulsion to the government as last year’s ordinance announced in July expires in six months.

According to the sources in the ministry, there will be no major changes in the existing customs rates. However, customs duty on mobile sets and some electronic goods among others would go down.

This ordinance has been formulated due to recent Indian “mini budget”, which has slashed rates on mobile phones and electronic goods.

Similarly, the government is lowering its share in the revenue of community forestry, which is expected to resolve a dispute between the government and community forest consumers’ association.

The source also said that the ordinance has brought no changes on excise duty and income tax, but a minor change has been made on a list of goods under the VAT net. Likewise, no changes have been made on existing ceiling of internal borrowing.

Finance Minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani has conformed that the upcoming ordinance would bring no major changes. “The up coming finance ordinance would be a continuation of the programs and policies announced in the budget of last July, with no remarkable changes” Dr Lohani told The Kathmandu Post.

The development expenditure allocated for the current fiscal year has not been changed, but some changes are expected to boost the sluggish development expenditure.