August 13: Former finance minister Bishnu Poudel has termed the white paper presented by the government in parliament as a baseless document aimed at tarnishing the image of the former government led by KP Sharma Oli.

Speaking in the parliament on Thursday, former minister Poudel accused the government of bringing the whitepaper only for objecting to the previous government’s works.   “Although the white paper presents information about the current economic condition of the country, it is more focused on criticizing the works of the previous government,” said Poudel.

He said that the government has no right to object to the reports prepared by the Financial Comptroller General’s Office, Nepal Rastra Bank, and Central Bureau of Statistics, among others. 

Poudel argued that the white paper has presented facts and conclusion in different ways.  
He further said that the whitepaper presented in parliament a few days ago by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has largely ignored the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on the national economy.    
Due to COVID-19, production and income declined but average spending remained stable. But this fact was neglected in the whitepaper, said Poudel.    
He also took time to praise the programmes of the previous government such as the prime minister employment programme, social security, child security grant, workplace training to workers, accidental insurance in group to workers, and the progress on national pride projects including Melamchi Water Supply Project, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower, among others.