Kathmandu, Apr. 24: Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has said that poverty alleviation will be the overriding objective of the forthcoming national budget.
Minister Acharya who was speaking at an interaction programme on the challenges to the formulation of budget 2000/2001 here today said law and order, good governance, civil service reforms, decentralization and corruption control will be accorded top priority while formulating the budget.
MPs and National Planning Commission members participated in the interaction.
The present Nepali Congress government is committed to effective mobilization of revenue, management of expenditures, strengthening of financial structure and making government’s role in socio-economic development and the overall fiscal management more effective, he said.
Stating that the government is equally sensitive to increasing productive investments and economic activities through privatization and liberalization, he said the government will focus its attention on establishing good governance, improving the financial sector, streamlining government expenditures, promoting the private sector and civil society and the well-being of the people.
Next year, a major part of government investment will go to agriculture and irrigation, poverty alleviation, social sector development, rural infrastructure development, women empowerment, upliftment of the backward section of society, balanced development and the like, Minister Acharya said.
The government will give a new impetus to promotion of trade and industry, tourism, water resources, telecommunications by encouraging private sector investment, he said, adding the privatization drive will be continued effectively.
Npc vice-chairman Prithvi Raj Ligal said the interaction was organised to increase the mps’ involvement in budget formulation and to ensure that plans formulated at local level receive priority.
Chairman of the parliamentary finance committee Smriti Narayan Chaudhari asked the government to bear in mind the feelings of the mps and increase the mps development fund.
Ex-finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari stressed the need for the government to increase investment in agriculture, irrigation and rural development, and formulate a concrete policy on revenue collection.
Rpp general secretary Pashupati Shumsher J. B. Rana spoke of the need to generate more employment opportunities and commercialize agriculture.
MPs Hridayesh Tripathi, Rajendra Pandey, Mrs Vidya Bhandari, Pari Thapa, Navaraj Subedi, Lilamani Pokhrel, Buddhiman Tamang, Dr. Ramman Shrestha and Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal also expressed their views.
Speaker Taranath Rana Bhat presided.