LALITPUR: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has stressed the need of mobilizing foreign aid and concessional loan on the basis of development needs.

At a programme themed “Nepal’s Graduation from Least Developed Country to Developed Country and Challenges in Budget Implementation” organised by Former Planners’ Forum Nepal here today, Finance Minister Paudel mentioned that it is not possible to move ahead being grant-oriented manner in the global context and circumstances, and it is necessary to mobilize concessional loan to be received for country’s development in the right way.

“We have not been able to carry out activities and manage resources as per the expectation even after five decades of moving ahead in a planned development. The main challenge is how to connect plans with needs,” he opined.

The Finance Minister underlined, “We have to conduct serious review whether or not we have become able to link plan making and budget allocation. Attention should be paid in plan making.”

He shared the government has been facing a big challenge to execute the policy of not implementing the projects less than Rs 30 million by the federal government.

Stressing on the process of capacity building, increasing productivity and competitive development as per the Nepal Human Development Report, Vice-President of the Forum, Dr Posh Raj Pandey, pointed out the need of forwarding the journey of prosperity in a way that international community could respect and trust it.

Similarly, Professor Dr Govinda Nepal made a presentation on the issue of budget implementation and added that arrears are increasing in lack of proper management of expenditure accounts.

The transfer of funds in the last week of Asar against the Policy of Economic Procedure and Fiscal Responsibility Procedure, 2077, was impractical in terms of expenditure.