Nepal gov't tables three vital bills in parliament to raise resources

The Nepalese government on Thursday presented at the parliament three vitals bills seeking to green-light the government to raise taxes as well as domestic and foreign loans.

The former government led by K.P Sharma Oli had originally presented Financial Bill, Bill to Raise Domestic Debt and Debt and Guarantee Bill in early July but they were rejected by a majority after the CPN (Maoist Centre) withdrew its support to the Oli-led government.

The failure of these bills at the parliament in July didn't prevent the Nepalese government to collect revenue because Periodic Tax Collection Act has allowed it to collect tax for six months from the date of budget presentation.

The previous government had presented the appropriation bill known as budget at the parliament on May 28. It means the Nepalese government can only collect tax until the next two months only under the prevailing law. It means passing the Financial Bill is crucial to continue collecting tax until the end of current fiscal in mid-July 2017.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Maraha on Thursday tabled the three bills at the parliament arguing that endorsement of these bills from the parliament has been crucial to implement the budget.

"These laws are necessary to be passed by the parliament to enable the government to collect necessary resources to finance the development projects," he said.

While endorsement of Financial Bill from the parliament is necessary for collecting taxes, the bill on raising public debt should be passed to raise internal loans. Debt and Guarantee Bill allows the government to raise foreign loans.

The Nepalese government has targeted to collect 5.3 billion U.S. dollars in tax in the current fiscal year. Likewise, it has planned to collect 1.8 billion U.S. dollars through foreign loans while one billion U.S. dollars will be generated through domestic borrowings. Enditem