Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Wednesday presented the annual budget plan for the fiscal year 2019/20 in a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. All broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu have covered their front pages with various stories on the announcement and responses it drew from stakeholders.
Besides, The Kathmandu Post has published an anchor story about Ahmadi Muslims staying in Nepal.
Here is a highlight of major front pages stories of the Kathmandu broadsheets.
Important
Budget plan draws mixed responses
Minister Khatiwada’s plan has apparently drawn mixed responses. The government-run Gorkhapatra says the plan is oriented towards socialism.
Ruling Nepal Communist Party leader and former finance minister Surendra Pandey says the budget plan may open the door to prosperity, in Naya Patrika. Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, who looks after the Finance portfolio in the shadow cabinet of the opposition, however, comments that the budget plan aims at pleasing everyone. Lead stories in Kantipur, Annapurna Post and Republica also echo the criticism.
The main opposition party is not happy with the plan in overall, according to Nepal Samacharpatra.
Naya Patrika reports that people can hope for the implementation of distributive programmes mentioned in the plan whereas development projects introduced may fail. It comments that the government failed to announce any ‘game changer’ project though its size increased by 27 per cent from the last year. Likewise, Rajdhani comments that its implementation will be challenging.
Kantipur fears that the budget may promote lack of discipline in financial transactions. In the same newspaper, former vice chairman of National Planning Commission, Swarnim Wagle, has commented that the budget has ignored federalism. Likewise, The Kathmandu Post says it is ambitious and unrealistic.
Private sector leaders have commented that the budget is impressive, but its implementation is challenging, according to Republica and Karobar. A commentary in The Himalayan Times, however, argues that there is no silver lining for the private sector.
Ignored
Ahmadi Muslims stay in Nepal fleeing persecution
Followers of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, the Ahmadis, believe in a later messiah and hence they are at odds with mainstream Muslims. Due to their difference in faith, the group is often subject to persecution. However, they feel safe in Nepal, according to The Kathmandu Post anchor story.
In Nepal, this community’s history can be traced to the mid 1990s. Some members of the community say they faced some backlash in Nepal also in the past, according to the report.
