Errors in Finance Bill have been rectified in legal manner: Finance Minister 

Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has clarified that some of the shortcomings in the Finance Bill presented in the Parliament have been corrected in a legal manner. He said that these errors were human weaknesses on the part of the staff and he would take responsibility for them.

Speaking at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under the House of Representatives on Thursday, Minister Wagle said that the budget formulation process is very sensitive and time-consuming, so minor errors could be made.

He said, “After presenting the estimates of income and expenditure through the budget statement, the Finance Bill was tabled in the Parliament and after that, some procedural work was hurried, which made an error.” ’

According to him, there were some ambiguities and technical errors while working for a long time and working under pressure in the last phase. Later, after identifying the errors, the concerned staff requested for correction and accordingly the amendment was made in a lawful manner, he said.

Giving an example of such amendment in the previous years, Minister Wagle clarified that necessary amendment has been made this year as well. He said that some provisions related to taxes and duties have been ambiguous and some have been left out.

He said that although carriers carrying medical supplies such as blood and vaccines were earlier classified as normal goods, they were reduced by putting them in a separate category as they are directly related to human life. He also urged people not to exaggerate it as “sedition or sedition”.

Similarly, there was a technical error in the fee related to electric vehicles, he said, adding that the road development fee has been adjusted targeting vehicles up to Rs 5 million. According to him, although the purpose of making the policy was to promote EVs, some things were left out during the documentation, which were later corrected.

Finance Minister Wagle said that all the changes have been made after informing the Parliament Secretariat as per the legal process and objected to the wrong publicity.

“I have not made a mistake by typing, but as a minister, I have to take responsibility, so I have taken ownership,” he said. ’

He also accused some groups of trying to tarnish the government and their image by exaggerating the issue. Stating that the amendment to the bill was part of normal administrative procedure, he clarified that there was no need to make it a big controversy.