Finance Ministry prepares action plan for policy priorities and minimum programmes

The Ministry of Finance has prepared an action plan for implementation of the policy priorities and minimum programmes.

According to the Ministry, the action plan mentions policies and programmes, milestones, resources, time limitations, monitoring and evaluation indicators and so on.

The action plans talks about promoting effectiveness in revenue collection, further systematising revenue system, maintaining professional neutrality while changing the revenue rate and controlling the revenue leakage.

It also incorporates topics as formulation of fiscal and monetary policies, to take necessary decisions for expenditure cuts and granting agreement for organization and for management survey for construction of buildings, except the most essential one, to advance towards economic growth and economic stability.

As the document says, projects remaining incomplete and those in limbo will be identified and resources will be managed on the need basis for its operation if it is proposed from the bodies concerned. More, it presents the idea to launch ‘hedging service’ to manage ups and downs in foreign investment.

It has provisions for necessary reforms in Ministry bodies being based on self-assessment reports and other reports relating to foreign exchange, revenue policies, government grants, non- amendment to bank loan policy, and elimination of investment for money-laundering and activities of terrorism.

It states to create a base for achieving a five-digit economic growth in the next five years, to coordinate among the three-tier governments, to review the customs rates, and to proceed with reviving he closed government entities after a study. In addition to this, it talks about to undertake policy and structural reforms in the insurance sector, to revise laws relating to securities and to make the stock market more transparent and competitive.

More, it has the provisions of operating commodity market and its infrastructure, assisting for the mobilization of capital required for small and medium-scale companies and carrying out reforms in financial sector.

Additionally, the Finance Ministry under the action plan to implement the government’s policy priorities and minimum programmes has prepared and implemented an action plan to implement points relating to the ministry following the direction by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to government secretaries on January 3.

The action plan has promised sufficient budget allocated for transformative and national pride projects, and non-transfer of the budget for other projects and non-amendment of programmes.
The Inland Revenue Department and the Department of Customs are also required to mobilise target revenue, and carry out policy reforms accordingly.

The action plan is required to resolve current problems in country’s economy by taking the private sector into confidence, implement the aim to replace imports and promote exports, resolve problems in service delivery within the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry through the ministerial level and address the issues at the policy level.

The Finance Ministry’s spokesperson Aananda Kafle said both the action plans would be implemented while reviewing their periodic progress.

The high level political mechanism on January 9 published the government’s policy priorities and minimum programmes.