Finance ministry’s half-yearly review shows average results

KATHMANDU, MARCH 28: The Ministry of Finance has posted average performance and achievement of the set goals until the half-yearly review period of the current fiscal year 2023/24. The ministry, in its latest meeting, assessed the progress until March 13 of the current fiscal year.

According to the Finance Minister’s Secretariat, in the meeting, Finance Minister Barshaman Pun said that the public finance management was under pressure. He directed the bodies concerned to resolve the problems related to the capital expenditure not increasing and to the revenue collection.

According to Minister Pun, the revenue collection has not gone up as the capital expenditure has not increased. He also pointed out the need for enhancing inter-ministry and inter-agency coordination as well as boosting the morale of the private sector to make the economy vibrant.

Minister Pun directed the regulatory bodies under the finance ministry to carry out works with dedication to achieve the set annual targets, reasoning that the performance of the regulatory bodies was poor.

The ministry had set 175 milestones for the current fiscal year out of which 140 should have been completed by March 13. But only 34 of the milestones have been completed, work is in progress on 94 and 12 are yet to be started.

The ministry has completed the task of preparing the standard for the resource agreement and multi-year contracts and the procedures for the automated return of tax of the diplomatic missions.

A target was set for constituting a high-level committee for reforming the existing tax system within the current fiscal year. This committee has been formed and is in the process of preparing its final report. Similarly, bills have been registered in parliament for amending the Customs Act, the Secured Transactions Act and the Banks and Financial Institutions Act.

The ministry has also achieved the target of making policy provisions related to foreign currency exchange and giving special priority to small farmers, small and medium enterprises and startup entrepreneurs.