Bold moves needed to motivate private sector: Finance Minister

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 26: Finance Minister Barsaman Pun has said that some ‘bold’ decisions have to be made to encourage the private sector.

While consulting with economists regarding the budget for the next fiscal year 2024/25 on Thursday, Minister Pun said that a decision would be taken to raise the morale of the private sector, which is in distraught state.

He said that due to the limitations in government resources, the government has to be tight and the private sector wants an easy environment, so there is a challenge to find a balance. 

“There is some slowdown in the economy. The expectations of the people, especially the youth, are very high,” he said, “Some bold decision has to be taken to encourage the private sector which is in a depressed condition.”

Minister Pun said that he would take the suggestions of all the concerned sectors before preparing budget to make the budget realistic and implementable. 

Emphasising that the policy should not be changed if the government or minister changes, Minister Pun promised to continue the good practice of the past ministers.

Dr. Resham Thapa, Head of Tribhuvan University Economics Department, former Head of Tribhuvan University Economics Department Dr. Ram Prasad Gyanwaly, former Rector of Tribhuvan University Prof. Dr. Shiva Bhusal, Sanjay Acharya, Professor of Economics at Tribhuvan University, Govinda Timilsina, Economist working at World Bank Headquarters, Dr. Bijay Paudel, Economist and Leader of CPN Unified Socialist, former Finance Secretary and economics expert Krishna Ghimire were among the participants.

During the meeting, they suggested to prioritise agriculture, tourism, energy and information technology sectors in the budget, according to a press statement issued by Finance Minister’s secretariat. 

They suggested not to make a large budget and not to allocate budget for unprepared projects so that they won’t be implemented. 

They emphasised that the budget should focus on creating jobs and increasing production.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Finance Minister had taken suggestions from former Finance Ministers.