Reds, Madhes parties press prez for non-populist budget

PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE KATHMANDU, July 4: Leaders of the major communist parties and Madhes-based parties have exerted pressure on President Ram Baran Yadav to go for a budget for the coming fiscal year without any populist measures, fearing that budgetary programs could be formulated in line with a liberal economic policy such as the Nepali Congress has long been promoting. They are apprehensive that Finance Minister Shankar Koirala and Chief Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Dr Chiranjibi Nepal, who are from Nepali Congress backgrounds, could frame a budget program dominated by the ideology of liberal economics that puts the private sector at the very center. In line with a three-pillar economic policy, which envisages roles for public, private and cooperative sectors as major players in the economy, the government at the time UCPN(Maoist) leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai was finance minister, had prioritized the cooperative sector in the budget. Subsequent governments led by the CPN(UML) and UCPN(Maoist) also promoted the cooperative sector as a major pillar of the economy. However, Finance Minister Koirala and Chief Economic Advisor Nepal, who can influence the budget hugely, have been advocating a private sector-led open liberal economic policy in an attempt to boost the confidence of business people. “After leaders of the UCPN (Maoist), CPN(UML) and Madhes-based parties expressed dissatisfaction that the government ignored the cooperative sector on the excuse of promoting a liberal economy, the president at a meeting with Chairman of the Interim Election Council Khilaraj Regmi on Sunday, expressed his wish for a budget that does not change the programs included in the current fiscal year,” a high-level source at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) told Republica Wednesday. The source also said they had exerted pressure on the president to instruct the government not to formulated populists programs that promote the liberal economic agenda. Opposition parties had prevented the government led by Dr Baburam Bhattarai from announcing a full-fledged budget, arguing that an election government had no such authority. “The president might have expressed a wish to get the budget announced in line with the programs of the current fiscal year as the incumbent government is also an election government like the previous one,” the source added. Dissident party leaders have accused the government of ignoring the spirit of the Interim Constitution which considers the cooperatives sector one of the three pillars for national development. Article 35 (2) of the Interim Constitution states that the state shall pursue a policy of developing the economy of the country through the governmental, cooperatives and private sectors. “Though we are for a full budget for next fiscal year, we can´t accept populist programs and policies with far reaching effect. And we do not want the budget to become a shadow of Nepali congress policy,” Basha Man Pun, a UCPN(Maoist) leader and former finance minister, told Republica. Meanwhile, former finance ministers and economists representing different political parties have underlined the need to announce a full-fledged budget but without including new populist programs. Speaking at an interaction in the capital, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, former finance minister and CPN(UML) leader, stressed the need to announce a new budget. However, he was not for including any new populist programs. “I wholeheartedly support a full-fledged budget but this election government should not incorporate new flagship programs,” said Adhikari. Leader of the Nepali Congress and economist Dr Prakash Saran Mahat also opined that the government should comes up with a full-fledged budget without altering any tax rates and without including any controversial programs. Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani, former finance minister and senior leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, underlined the need for announcing a full budget with a strong commitment to implementing existing programs rather than focusing on new ones. On the occasion, Chief Economic Advisor Nepal said the government was not coming up with new programs for the coming fiscal year, as feared in different quarters. Talking to Republica, Nepal clarified that the present government was not undermining the cooperative sector as the other party leaders feared. “We are not against the development of cooperatives, which flourish in capitalist countries like the US, Canada and Singapore. Cooperatives can develop only in liberal economies led by the private sector,” Nepal said. He, however, claimed that the confidence of the private sector had been boosted by the government´s commitment to develop that sector.
Published on 2013-07-04 00:00:00