Implementation of fiscal federalism still challenging: Experts

Kathmandu, Oct 4: Though nine years have passed since the country adopted federalism after promulgating the Constitution of Nepal- 2072, implementation of fiscal federalism is still challenging, said experts on fiscal federalism.     

At a programme, 'Federalism: Fiscal Perspective', organized by Society of Economic Journalists Nepal (SEJON) here today, they pointed out the need of resolving policy and practical problems to make fiscal federalism effective.     

On the occasion, Chairperson of National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, Balananda Paudel shared that the principle of coordination, collaboration and co-existence should be adopted among the three tiers of government and the related bodies with priority to resolve problems seen in course of implementing fiscal federalism.     

He laid emphasis on the need of making budget plan of province and local level, focusing on building expenditure capacity.     

Chairman Paudel said the federal government used to set an ambitious revenue target and this has had an impact on provinces and local levels, adding that though the province and local government have rights to raise internal debt, they have not been able to raise it due to lack of clear laws and practical difficulties.     

Stating that the space of current expenditure in government budget spending is increasing while capital expenditure is decreasing, Paudel mentioned that it cannot be said that federalism is financially burdensome.     

Similarly, Registrar of Kathmandu University, Prof Dr Achyut Wagle, shared that development and prosperity could not take pace as expected after the implementation of federalism.     

There should be easy and smooth delivery of services to citizens in order to strengthening federalism, he stressed.     

Wagle further said the Constitution has given minimal rights to National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, raising the question about the activities to be carried out by the National Planning Commission and its existence.     

He pointed out the need of making Fiscal Commission strong and empowered rather than National Planning Commission. None of the political parties have paid attention on how the federalism is being implemented, opined Wagle.     

The KU Registrar pointed out the need of reviewing the state of federalism implementation and carrying out study research based on statistic related to federalism, adding problem has surfaced in implementation of federalism due to centralized mentality.(RSS)