The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to bring the budget for the upcoming fiscal year in a way that facilitates industrial expansion and investment growth. The delegation, including CNI President Birendra Raj Pandey, submitted suggestions to Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle.

The CNI has urged the government to adopt a policy to increase industry and investment by taking the private sector as the engine of development. CNI President Pandey said that the budget should be brought in a way that supports income generation and wealth creation. He said that it is believed that addressing and implementing the suggestions presented for the budget for the fiscal year 2083/84 will lead to significant improvements in economic expansion, job creation and investment growth, and will contribute significantly to the country's journey to prosperity.

The Confederation has suggested budgets in sectors related to industry and investment, foreign direct investment, tax policy and system, customs, tourism, agriculture, herbs and forest products, energy, information technology sector, banking and finance, insurance, cooperatives and capital market, domestic product promotion, infrastructure, health and education, non-tax, revenue leakage and money laundering.

Taking suggestions from the Confederation, Finance Minister Wagle said that private sector capital is necessary for development. He said that legal reforms and reforms in the tax system are necessary and the issue of wealth acquisition should be looked at. Stating that the government is clear that development is not possible without private sector investment, Finance Minister Wagle said that private sector investment should come in infrastructure.

The Confederation has urged to ensure the stability of such policies for at least 10 years by making policy reforms keeping industry as the first priority, creating and implementing an industrial development strategy focused on competitive products, and bringing a budget focusing on employment, production and import substitution.

The Confederation has suggested differentiating customs rates at least at two levels on raw materials and finished goods, implementing a refund or adjustment system for other amounts to be refunded, including customs duty on industrial raw materials, and encouraging domestic production through tax exemptions on imports of the remaining raw materials for industries using at least 40 percent domestic raw materials.

The Confederation has urged the tax system to be made simple, integrated and limited, to be clarified with necessary explanatory notes on VAT, income tax and excise duty, and to reduce the income tax rate by setting the minimum limit for individual income tax to Rs 10 lakh.

The Confederation has suggested that the Confederation implement a risk-based audit system, resolve tax disputes, advance rulings and make tax administration digital. The federation has suggested that coordination between agencies should be strengthened to control smuggling, minimum quality standards should be implemented for imported goods, the Nepal Department of Standards and Metrology and the Accreditation Center should be strengthened, testing, certification and labs should be made of international standards, and negotiations should be initiated with India to reach a mutual understanding on certification processes, standards and other issues so that NS and ISI are acceptable to each other.