Finance Minister paints rosy picture of economy

The incumbent government is handing over a sound economy to the government-in-waiting despite a few challenges, finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said at a ‘post-budget’ interaction here today.“Though there are daunting challenges for the next government to meet the aspirations of the people, tame inflation, check intimidation and threats ... ...the business community, provide security for investment and push the plummeting exports up, the present macro-economic indicators are looking bright,” he added.According to him, both the GDP growth and revenue collection exceeded government expectation during the fiscal year 2007/08. “With no major changes in tax rates and induction of new steps, mobilisation of a total of Rs 103.66 billion revenue seemed to be a challenging task. Despite instability in the country throughout the fiscal year, the government managed to collect Rs 107 billion in revenue, 22 per cent more than the target,” he said.Last year, Mahat had predicted a 17 per cent growth in revenue collection for 2007/08, but it recorded a growth of 19.5 per cent. Likewise, he had predicted five per cent growth in GDP, but it recorded 5.6 per cent growth. “It became possible because the government maintained fiscal discipline,” he claimed.However, the government has failed to rein in inflation. It had predicted it to hover around five per cent but it has already touched 11.5 per cent.The CA yesterday passed the Advance and Expenditure Bill worth Rs 73.53 billion that will be automatically replaced by a full-fledged budget. Due to delay in formation of a new government, the incumbent government was forced to bring the Bill as a temporary arrangement to allow itself to carry on with routine expenses and revenue collection from tomorrow when the new fiscal year begins. Economic policies of the last budget will also get continuity until a new budget comes into effect.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg