Nepali Congress not happy with budget

KATHMANDU, May 30: The main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) is not satisfied with the budget announced by the government for the fiscal year 2018/19.

Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Tuesday announced the first federal budget of Rs 1.315 trillion for the next fiscal year in view of the vision ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’.

Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli after joint meeting of the federal parliament had claimed that the budget was presented in keeping with the practical measures and would lay foundation for the campaign he introduced.

Nepal Communist Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ claimed that the budget is in the interest of the nation and the people.

But NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba said that he was dissatisfied with the budget.

“The budget tabled by the government was difficult to implement,” said Deuba.

Similarly, NC lawmaker Dr Minendra Rijal said that the budget was like a daydream for him. He added that the size of the budget was large while amalgamating the portions of all level of governments.

“The foreign assistance and loan is also not likely to come as announced in the budget,” he added.

Likewise, NC lawmaker Gagan Thapa said that the budget has not created wave against the expectations of the people and nor has taken any risk.

“The budget has made the people hopeless. It will not support the economic sectors. The budget has failed to include the policies and programs the government introduced a week ago,” said NC leader Dr Prakash Saran Mahat.

NC spokesperson Bishwo Prakash Sharma said that the budget failed to include the promises the communist parties made in the election manifesto. He further said that the budget “nor has been brought as per the policies and programs of the government.”