सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. Amidst the severe pressure on resources, the government has intensified preparations for the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/083. According to the Ministry of Finance, due to the recent significant reduction in foreign aid, even revenue has not been able to be raised effectively.
Government officials have intensified preparations for the budget by keeping it within the ceiling of about 1.9 trillion rupees given by the National Planning Commission.
However, this budget ceiling is larger than the current budget. The government had brought a budget of 1.8 trillion 60 billion rupees for this fiscal year. This was reduced by about 200 billion through the mid-term review by the current Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office shows that only 790 billion has been spent so far in the current budget. The budget deficit has now reached over 122 billion.
The government has spent 790 billion, but has earned a total of 668 billion as of Falgun 13. As the gap between government expenditure and income increases to a large extent, it is becoming challenging for the government to prepare the next budget.
According to officials, officials of the Ministry of Finance, who are busy preparing the next budget, this time too the government has to allocate a large budget due to the monsoon-related impact. A large portion of the budget is being spent on social security programs such as pensions, old-age allowances, and foreign debt obligations, including mandatory obligations.
A large portion of the budget is being spent on transformational projects that have not been completed for a long time, as well as projects of national pride.
If we look only at social security, more is spent on social security than development spending every year. The share of social security in the budget has reached about 20 percent. The budget will have to address that.
Shyam Prasad Bhandari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, said that the budget preparation is underway by distributing the ceiling received from the Planning Commission on a ministry-by-ministerial basis.
He said, “We are preparing the budget, the ceiling received from the Planning Commission has been distributed on a ministry-by-ministerial basis. Now the ministries will have to prepare their own plans and programs within that ceiling.”
According to him, if the US continues to cut grants, there will be even greater pressure on the budget. However, the Ministry of Finance will look for an alternative to such American aid.
For the upcoming year, the Planning Commission has set a target of increasing foreign grants by 22 percent and foreign loans by 30 percent for the budget of 1.9 trillion shillings.
The current leadership does not seem to have a positive idea of how to fill the financial gap. Nepal was built on grants and donations from other countries. The place where Nepal’s House of Representatives meets was built with the help of China. China built the Ring Road, and the United States eradicated malaria. Nepal has made great progress in the social sector, all of which was possible with foreign grants. Our schools and health centers are running with American assistance. Our vaccination programs are being implemented. But we do not understand.’
According to him, a sufficient amount of concessional loans should be taken to replenish the financial resources available in Nepal. From that, we should be able to build infrastructure and fight the disasters caused by climate change.
Necessary discussions should be held with neighboring country China and lobbying for more assistance.
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