| English | Dzongkha | Monday, September 28, 2020 |
The total domestic revenue for the Financial Year 2020-2021 is estimated to be reduced by 14 per cent compared to the previous year. Finance Minister while presenting the National Budget Financial Year 2020- 2021 today at the National Assembly said it is the lowest in the recent past.
To meet the cost of recurrent expenditures from internal resources, the Finance Ministry is looking into implementing seven temporary fiscal measures. This was highlighted by the Finance Minister while presenting Budget Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2020-21 in the National Assembly today.
Considering the current market situation, Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering is requesting business owners not to send their employees or staff on unpaid leave. Lyonchhen also informed that he has asked the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources to monitor such cases.
The upcoming session of the National Assembly will deliberate mostly on Tax Bills. The Session which will begin from the 15th of this month will deliberate on two new Tax Bills and seven Amendment Tax Bills among other important Bills.
The government has assured to bring down the fiscal deficit of 7% to 3 % by the end of their tenure. They added that the country’s economy is stable at the moment for the pay revision. The statement comes following the Opposition Party’s comments that they do not agree with this pay revision and have questioned its sustainability.
The government says the decision to shift the focus from Zhemgang to Sarpang in the Tourism Flagship Programme was taken as it will have greater benefits to nearby dzongkhags including Zhemgang. They said the decision made was never along the lines of politics as claimed by the Opposition.
The Opposition Party says the government’s decision of removing Zhemgang Dzongkhag from tourism flagship programme has undermined the whole planning and budgetary process of the parliament. This was shared during a press conference today.
The opposition leader Pema Gyamtsho (PhD) said the government went ahead with the pay revision despite the economic indicators being negative. He shared this during the press conference today. The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa( DPT) said it is not wise to make the move at a time when the country is facing a budget deficit besides having a huge external debt. .
The National Council yesterday unanimously adopted the Pay Revision Bill of Bhutan 2019 along with six general recommendations proposed by the Ad-hoc Committee.
The number of regional tourists visiting Bhutan has almost doubled in the past couple of years. From 132,594 visitors in 2016, the number went up to 222,904 regional tourists that visited the country last year.