Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad has acknowledged the assessment by the Fiscal Review Committee submitted to the government.

The Committee highlighted areas of priority for the government in the 2024-2025 National Budget, upon the request of the Finance Ministry.

Prasad says the government supports the idea for independent assessment, but it does not mean that it will consider every recommendation.

“If you look at what they’ve said, they are actually commending the government for bold and decisive action that we took last year in terms of our revenue measures, in terms of our expenditure measures. And this time around, they have had the opportunity of assessing what the government has done in the last 18 months. And obviously, they feel that there are areas where government needs to step up.”

Prasad says they appreciate how the Committee has identified areas for development, after assessing the operation of government in the past 18 months.

He says the Committee has signaled that the government needs to step up in various areas, but they also understand that a few initiatives may take time to complete.

The Finance Minister says the assessment by the 2023 Fiscal Review Committee has been considered as a positive criticism, which demonstrates the opportunity for people to partake in reforms for the country.