Kathmandu, June 13
The private sector has asked the government to extend the period for paying taxes for the current fiscal year.
The business community is required to pay all the taxes to the government by mid-July.
Speaking at a press conference organised in the capital on Wednesday, leaders of the business sector also demanded that the government provide the industrial sector with compensations for the losses incurred due to recent strikes and bandhs.
Bhawani Rana, officiating president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), said that the government should give compensations to the industrial sector, as the latter suffered a loss of billion of rupees during the strikes and bandhs before May 27.
Saying that the industries were virtually closed during the strikes, but the business community has been forced to pay interest of loans for the period as well, she urged the government to write off the interest of loans for the period of mid-June-mid July (Ashadh) and extend the payment of interests and loans by three months.
Rana hoped that the government will introduce a full-fledged budget for the fiscal year 2069/70 through reaching understanding among the political parties.
She said, "The implementation of the budget will be affected and the capital expenditure will not be spent as per the plans if the government announces the budget without forging consensus among the political parties."
She called on the government to make amendments to the Public Procurement Act in order to ensure that that the government bodies use the domestic products.
Expressing her serious concern over the incident that took place in Narayangadh recently, she said that the private sector had been loosing its confidence.
She also denounced the extortion campaign launched by the cadres of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) in the Makwanpur district.
Talking about the current political impasse, she asked the political parties to forge consensus in order to tackle the political uncertainty.
Pradeep Jung Pandey, vice-president of the FNCCI, said that the government was effortful in collecting taxes from the private sector rather than boosting their level of confidence in such a transition phase.
He said, "The private investors are in a difficult situation in the absence of a favourable business-friendly environment in the country."
He suggested that the government should encourage the private sector to invest in various fields and win their confidence by offering additional facilities and creating business-friendly environment.
He further said that the Nepal Investment Year 2012/13 will be a failure if the government is unable to forge consensus among the political parties.
Chandi Raj Dhakal, former president of the FNCCI, said that the political parties should pay due attention to the economic agendas along with politics for the country’s economic development.
