Kathmandu, July 17: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel assured the construction entrepreneurs that their complaints regarding due payment from government would be addressed soon.
In a meeting with the office-bearers of the Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal (FCAN) at his office in Singha Durbar today, Minister Poudel reassured that there will be no room for complaints from the contractors regarding their outstanding payment.
Newly appointed Minister Poudel also pledged to resolve the longstanding electricity fee dispute between the industrialists and the Nepal Electricity Authority regarding the ‘dedicated line’ and ‘trunk line’ in accordance with the prevailing law.
According to him, the Head of the Government has already put forth the government’s perspective on the ‘dedicated and trunk line dispute’ and thus urged the construction entrepreneurs not to panic on this matter.
He said that the government will not create any liability through illegal means and would dodge such efforts if any.
The Finance Minister further said that the government, as the guardian of the private sector, was ever ready to pay heeds to the problems and complaints of the private sector and thereby seeking solutions to those problems and complaints.
“The incumbent government will not let the trust and confidence of private sector be broken,” he vowed, urging the visiting delegation to move ahead with high morale and contribute towards nation-building being confident on getting protection from the State.
He argued that the biggest challenge for him as the Minister of Finance was to raise the moral of the private sector and general public that, he opined, was ebbing lately.
He expressed his concerns over the decreasing demands and exports in recent days and revenue collection and spending of capital expenditure dipping lately.
He also articulated the readiness of the government for legal, structural and practical reforms to raise the moral of the private sector and to boost the construction sector.
Seeking suggestions from the construction entrepreneurs regarding support from government for facilitating policies, the Minister mentioned that the government had adopted the policy of facilitating, supporting and collaborating with the private sector.
According to him, the government had taken cognizance of the inconveniences facing the private sector regarding the policy and implementation of the laws and thus assured that the government would consider making laws flexible and easy if there was problem in the legal arrangement.
On a different note, the Minister asserted that the meaningful initiatives were being taken to address the problems facing the micro finance and cooperatives sector.
He expressed his belief that the monetary policy to be rolled out by the Nepal Rastra Bank in the the next fiscal year would address the existing financial sector related issues.
On the occasion, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) suggested the government to form a high-level mechanism including the private sector to address the existing problems in national economy.
He pressed for serious initiatives on the part of the government to salvage the national economy as well as to boost the morale of general public and entrepreneurs alike.
Drawing the attention of the government towards the increasing illegal import and decreasing revenue collection thereby the entrepreneurs facing problems, he demanded that the government agencies should facilitate in acquisition of land, construction of access roads and carrying out environment impact assessment for the development projects.
He also recommended the government to clarify the jurisdiction of the regulatory bodies, clear the outstanding payment of the contractors and resolve longstanding dispute related to dedicated pine and trunk and to address the problems prevailing the cooperatives and micro finances.
