In a meeting with the newly elected working committee of the Nepal Economic Journalists Association, he informed that more than 1,300 projects were found that were not entered in the project bank through the current budget and about 1 trillion 10 billion rupees were allocated for those projects.
Finance Minister Rameshwar Khanal has said that there is no need to ask donors or neighbors for the budget required for the federal parliament elections to be held on February 21.
Finance Minister Rameshwar Khanal has said that there is no need to ask donor agencies or neighbors for the budget required for the federal parliament elections to be held on February 21. In a meeting with the newly elected working committee of the Nepal Economic Journalists Association, he informed that more than 1,300 projects were found that were not entered in the project bank through the current budget and about 1 trillion 10 billion rupees were allocated for those projects.
Similarly, he informed that around 12 billion rupees can be taken out for various topics including conferences and meetings kept in the current budget.
He said that the budget will be worked out after identifying the projects that have not started. "Especially, the budget is being taken out for such plans, which were not spent after the budget was put in the plan," he said. According to the Minister of Finance, the government is preparing to use the remaining funds allocated for the election on reconstruction.
Since the main goal of the government is the election and previously 25 billion rupees were spent to conduct three-level elections, it is estimated that this time the budget may be less than that. However, Khanal says that security should be given top priority and due to the burning of some municipal buildings, the budget may increase.
The Minister of Finance informed that the Council of Ministers is already doing everything to clear the difficulties faced by the Election Commission. "As soon as the Commission completes the necessary preparations, the Ministry of Finance will make arrangements for the budget," he said. The government does not see the need to look outside or talk to anyone in the neighboring country for that.
He informed that preparations are being made to take the 'Business Recovery Plan' prepared by the Ministry of Finance to the Cabinet meeting. "Recovery plan has been prepared with the involvement of not only the government, but everyone," said the finance minister.
According to this plan, a fund will be established. He informed that the fund will mainly do three things. First, more support will be provided to the families of those who lost their lives. Second, it will be spent on the reconstruction of public structures. Thirdly, there will be work to provide necessary assistance to the destroyed structures of the private sector. "Rather than funding, the private sector will be assisted by giving discounts on the customs duties incurred when importing necessary goods to build structures," he said.
Finance Minister Khanal informed that the morale was high in the meeting with the private sector and that he is committed to moving forward with more strength soon. Automobiles and hotels are particularly affected, he says. Industrialists and businessmen and their establishments, businesses have been damaged and by giving concessions in one way or another, the environment will be created to rise again.
Finance Minister Khanal mentioned that the immediate priority of the government is to instill confidence in the common citizens and provide treatment to the injured families and provide financial assistance or compensation to the families of those who lost their lives. Khanal said that a team has been formed between representatives of the Ministry of Urban Development, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority JN and other agencies to collect data on the physical damage caused by the
movement. According to him, for the reconstruction of public bodies and structures, funds should be taken from the budget and if not enough, they will be built through crowd funding. Minister Khanal informed that preparations for that have been completed.
