KATHMANDU: The newly appointed Finance Minister Janardan Sharma today said that his appointment at the Ministry of Finance has come at a challenging time but would overcome the challenge through collaborative efforts.
However, it has been learned that bureaucrats at the Ministry of Finance already has reservation with the new Finance Minister in just 11 days of his appointment as Sharma is relying/focusing on external suggestions and recommendations in operating the Ministry over holding discussion with responsible Ministry officials and experts within the Ministry.
“The leadership is seen discussing on crucial issues with external people instead of bureaucrats within the Ministry. This is not a good practice by any means and will affect morale of internal Ministry officials/bureaucrats,” said an high-level source at the Ministry seeking anonymity.
Few Finance Ministry officials that Fiscal Nepal met said that such tendency of prioritizing discussions on vital issues with external people by undermining Ministry officials will only affect working environment within the Ministry. “The leadership should first take Ministry officials/bureaucrats into confidence,” said the official.
Minister is preparing to issue a white paper to bring into light the state of the economy left behind by the KP Sharma Oli-led government. Sharma has commissioned two experts to prepare the white paper: former Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Min Bahadur Shrestha and economist Surendra Upreti.
The country’s external sector has been deteriorating. The balance of payments has gone into deficit after two years and foreign exchange reserves have declined. The current account deficit has exceeded 7.5 percent of GDP. While the budget spending had been weak, inflation is also under pressure. Almost all the economic indicators are weak.