Govt. told to invest in lucrative mega projects

Kathmandu, March 2: The Finance Ministry has held discussions with the former finance and revenue secretaries to seek their recommendations on the country's economic progress.     

At a programme organized at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, the former secretaries suggested that the government should cut budget from non-performing projects and focus on mega projects.     

They suggested that the government should ensure effectiveness in fiscal federalism, hold ministries and department accountable to increase capital expenditure and deepen inter-governmental relations between the three levels of government.     

The former finance secretaries shared that the government should apply austerity measures, increase internal sources of revenue generation, effectively spend the budget in the national pride projects and reduce the informal economy.     

Similarly, the other suggestions include systematic operation of insurance companies, cooperative organizations, capital market and state-owned enterprises.     

They stated that foreign investment should be prioritized than the foreign assistance and loan and prioritize the climate financing.     

They said that the budget of the upcoming fiscal year should be implementable.     

Likewise, the former secretaries said that social security should be reviewed and be run in an integrated approach, explore more areas of revenue mobilization, ensure liquidity in the market and pay attention to the areas that create long-term liabilities to the state.     

The former finance secretaries have asked the government to create an enabling environment to the private sector for their business growth.     

Former chief secretary and finance secretary Bimal Koirala, former finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal, Bhanu Acharya, Krishna Hari Baskota, Suman Sharma, Rajan Khanal, Shishir Khanal, Madhu Marasini and former revenue secretaries Lal Shankar Ghimire and Ramsharan Pudasaini were present at the event.(RSS)