Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Newly-appointed Minister for Finance Dr Swarnim Wagle has pledged to implement key recommendations of the High-Level Economic Reform Advisory Commission, 2025.
Assuming office at the finance ministry on Friday, Wagle said the government will scrap the Department of Revenue Investigation (DoRI) in line with the commission’s recommendations, and initiate the repeal or amendment of 15 different laws.
Wagle also announced that an “economic status report” as of March 25 will be prepared within five days. “The government would formulate 100-day, semi-annual, and annual action plans to implement promises made in our election manifesto,” he added.
According to Wagle, priority will be given to protecting and promoting private enterprises, facilitating large-scale development projects, and drafting new legislation or amending existing laws to remove procedural hurdles. “An environment will now be created to fast-track major projects,” he added.
Wagle also said the government would adopt a holistic approach to addressing economic challenges rather than tackling them in fragments. He said the government would pursue systemic reforms by eliminating discretionary powers.
“Implementing the recommendations of the Public Expenditure Review Commission, boosting domestic production, creating jobs, and preparing a transformative budget will be my key priorities,” he added.
Wagle also said efforts to promote e-governance would begin from the finance ministry itself, moving toward paperless and cashless systems.
The high-level commission led by former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal, who also helmed the finance ministry in the interim government, has proposed repealing or amending laws like the Income Ticket Charge Act, the Black Marketing and Some Other Social Offences and Punishment Act, the Private Forest Nationalization Act, the Administrative Procedures (Regularization) Act, the Compensation Act, the Birta Abolition Act, the Act Restricting Birta Holders from Financial Transactions, the Revenue Leakage (Investigation and Control) Act, the Foreign Investment Restriction Act, the Nepal Agency Act, the Regional Development Plan (Implementation) Act, the Export-Import (Control) Act, the Social Practices Reform Act, the Act to Promote Circulation of Nepali Currency, and the Financial Intermediation Institutions Act.
