सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. The Finance Committee under the Federal Parliament has given permission to withdraw the ‘Financial Procedures and Fiscal Responsibility Bill, 2081’ from the Parliament. In the meeting of the committee held on Friday (Magh 19), Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel sought the committee’s permission to withdraw the bill from the Parliament, and the proposal was approved by a majority.
This bill was registered in the Parliament and was under discussion in the committee, but after the government amended the ‘Financial Procedures and Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2076’ through an ordinance, it sent a letter to the Federal Parliament Secretariat to withdraw it from the Parliament. The opposition parties had also expressed their opposition to the bill, saying that the government had brought it through an ordinance, which was under discussion in the committee.
Finance Minister Poudel, however, said that the ordinance was brought within the constitutional and legal framework and that the bill should be withdrawn as the ordinance will be discussed in the House. “The government did not bring the ordinance to circumvent the Parliament. There is a provision to bring laws through an ordinance to do some important work when the Parliament is not in session,” he said. “There will also be sufficient discussion in the Parliament on the issues in the ordinance. Also, the issue of whether or not to pass it will be decided after completing the process.”
The government has amended the Economic Procedures and Fiscal Responsibility Act through an ordinance, mainly the ‘Budget Calendar’. As per the provisions of the ordinance, the budget limit and budget formulation guidelines should be prepared based on the details received from the National Planning Commission and sent by Falgun 15.
While formulating the budget, a provision has been made to finalize the budget by adding, changing or modifying the proposed budget amount, programs or activities based on the availability of resources, expenditure requirements and spending capacity. The ordinance also states that if there is a substantial addition or modification to the proposed budget and programs, the information should be given to the concerned Accounts Officer. Similarly, a provision has been made to amend any approved program, if the amount allocated within the approved program has to be spent on any other program, on the recommendation of the concerned ministry.
The ordinance states that if additional funds are to be included in a project that is currently in operation after a foreign grant or loan agreement is made in the middle of the fiscal year, the amount or resource can be transferred without increasing the total amount of foreign aid included in the Appropriation Act. Similarly, according to the new provision, if the financial transfer amount made to the provincial or local level for conditional, complementary or special grants is not spent within the fiscal year and remains, it will have to be deposited in the federal consolidated fund within the same fiscal year.
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