The National Assembly today accepted the two recommendations put forth by the National Council regarding the Annual Budget Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2023-2024. The recommendations focused on addressing flaws in the method of calculating inflation and upholding the constitutional threshold of foreign reserves.
The first recommendation regarding the National Statistics Bureau to reexamine the method of calculating inflation did not undergo any deliberations.
“One of the recommendations is about inflation and its calculation. The NC members are saying that the inflation rates have been calculated using international formulas and by not considering the local or country’s actual situation,” said Dorji Wangdi, Opposition Leader.
However, the members of the House discussed the need for collaboration between the government and the Royal Monetary Authority to maintain an adequate level of foreign currency reserves.
“It would be better if the people staying outside can open a dollar accounts here in the country. A system where people can easily deposit and withdraw dollars without any hassle. This way we can bring in more dollars. I am not sure what the government is doing on this matter. But for now, it is very difficult to withdraw dollars,” said Choki Gyeltshen, Maenbi-Tsaenkhar MP.
“Another recommendation is to uphold the constitutional threshold of foreign reserves. I hope every government, be it the present or the upcoming government, no government would even dare to go against the Constitution. There might be a genuine reason why the constitution is asking the government to maintain a certain threshold with regard to the foreign currency reserves,” said Ugyen Wangdi, Dramedtse-Ngatshang MP.
The finance minister said that the current position on foreign exchange reserves is not critical.
“We are yet to receive various funding and loans with minimum interest rates from outside. And for this, we are in constant touch with our development partners. While the state of our foreign currency reserve is not optimal, it is not a matter of grave concern either,” said Namgay Tshering, Finance Minister.
With the incorporation of these two recommendations, the Annual Budget Appropriation Bill will now comprise a total of five recommendations.
The House unanimously supported the two recommendations and endorsed them through a majority show of hands.
Passang Dorji & Deki Lhazom
Edited by Tshering Zam
