सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. The government has intensified its homework for the new budget. As the deadline for introducing the new budget on Jestha 15, as per the constitutional provisions, and holding budget discussions in Parliament before that, approaches, the Ministry of Finance has intensified its homework for the new budget.
According to officials from the Ministry of Finance, the ministry-level discussions have now reached the final stage. The Ministry of Finance had started ministerial discussions since the last week of Falgun.
Under which, so far, the Budget Writing Committee, including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, has completed discussions on the upcoming budget with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban Development, Energy and Water Resources, Health and Population, Industry and Commerce, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, and officials of their subordinate bodies.
Spoken Minister of Finance Shyam Prasad Bhandari said that the budget work schedule has also been revised as amended through the Economic Procedures and Fiscal Responsibility Act Ordinance. He said, ‘The Ministry of Finance has already sent 8-point guidelines related to ceiling and budget formulation to all ministries by the 15th. Since February 21, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister has personally held discussions with the ministries of physical infrastructure, urban development, energy, water resources and irrigation, and health for the budget.’
According to the Finance Minister’s Secretariat, in the ministry-level discussions, Poudel has instructed the ministries to propose a realistic budget within the budget limit received and without having to make changes or amend programs during implementation, to discourage the tendency to scatter resources on small projects, to reduce the number of sequential projects, to postpone projects that cannot be implemented and have low priority, to make arrangements to propose only implementable projects, to propose only pre-prepared projects when proposing new projects and programs, to include only quality projects that appear feasible, and to propose budgets for new programs and projects only after allocating the necessary budget for sequential projects. .
While proposing projects, the National Planning Commission should only include projects entered in the project bank, if necessary, restructure and integrate ongoing programs and projects based on the implementation experience to date, do so accordingly, ensure that there is no duplication between inter-level and inter-agency levels while proposing projects, and propose a budget by prioritizing post-disaster reconstruction work, the secretariat said.
According to the Ministry of Finance, while the work of projects run with US assistance is currently being affected in the upcoming budget, preparations are being made to move forward projects like MCC by allocating resources. For that, the Ministry of Finance has also initiated discussions with various donor agencies.
In preparation for the new budget, the Ministry of Finance has already provided the ministry-specific limits for current, capital, financial management and intergovernmental financial transfers and the financial transfer limits for the provincial and local levels, within the limits of the budget received from the national plan as decided by the Source Committee.
A committee was formed in Falgun under the coordination of Budget Division Chief Shree Krishna Nepal to advance the budget preparation work. The committee, including Foreign Division Chief Dhani Ram Sharma, Revenue Division Chief Uttar Kumar Khatri, Administration Division Chief Than Prasad Pangeni, Inland Revenue Department Deputy Director General Tirtha Chiluwal, and Joint Controller General Sushila Aryal, has intensified its homework for writing the upcoming budget.
Finance Ministry officials say that the committee members have intensified their homework as per their responsibilities, including determining budget principles and priorities, facilitating the prioritization of ministry-level projects and programs, preparing draft budget statements, and submitting suggestions on policies and programs.
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