Kathmandu, June 1
Surendra Pandey, Vice Chairman of the CPN-UML and former Finance Minister, has warned that if dollar reserves continue to drop, Nepal’s condition might become comparable to that of Sri Lanka.
He said that the budget objective could not be fulfilled in such a circumstance, citing a monthly decline of 120 million to 150 million dollars.
”We have 961 billion in reserves this year,” Pandey remarked during a debate on the budget for fiscal year 2079/80 on Wednesday. Deposits have dropped by 2.7 billion to 120 million per month since August. Our imports will decrease if dollar deposits continue to fall. We are unable to provide foreign currency. How can you collect $1.24 trillion in income if you can’t give foreign currency?”
”Should we leave it to the private sector to import as much as possible in order to collect Rs 1.24 trillion in revenue?” he said. What about the money? Where do you obtain it? A fixed fee is also charged for revenue. It is unable to raise funds. This is a truth that must be considered.
According to him, the scenario indicates that the economy is failing. ”You may speak about distributing money or saying anything to influence the election,” he continued, ”but next year we will have to sit with our hands over our heads and we might have to face a situation like the one in Sri Lanka, when the economy collapsed.”
