KATHMANDU: During a session of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday, the government's policies and programs for the fiscal year 2024-25 were endorsed despite opposition from the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the House. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal proposed the initiation of discussions on these policies and programs, which were presented by President Ramchandra Paudel before the joint sitting of both houses of the Federal Parliament on May 14.
Before the proposal was passed, the Prime Minister addressed queries raised by lawmakers during the discussions on the policies and programs. The House engaged in discussions on the policies and programs for approximately one hour, amidst protests from Congress lawmakers. Amendments to the policies and programs were proposed by Prem Suwal of the Nepal Workers Peasants Party and Chitra Bahadur KC of the Rastriya Janamorcha.
The obstruction from the main opposition, the Nepali Congress, has persisted since the beginning of the budget session on May 10. They have been demanding a parliamentary probe into the alleged involvement of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane in a cooperative fraud.
Finance Minister Barshaman Pun is scheduled to present the budget for the upcoming fiscal year during a joint meeting of Parliament at 1 pm on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Pun tabled the Economic Survey of Fiscal Year 2023/24. He mentioned that the country's economic and social indicators have shown gradual improvement, with an expected expansion of the economy by 3.9 percent, driven by growth in the agriculture and service sectors despite contractions in the productive sector and production in the industry and construction sectors. The finance minister also highlighted that the economic growth rate of provinces such as Gandaki, Bagmati, and Lumbini is estimated to surpass the national average.
