Finance Minister Pun discusses budget formulation with development partners

KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun held a meeting with the leaders and representatives of international development partners to discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2024/25.

The meeting was held at the Ministry of Finance on Monday. It was attended by representatives from multilateral development partners, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and International Finance Cooperation. Ambassadors from international development agencies — Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union — as well as bilateral development partners were also present, as noted by the Finance Minister's Secretariat.

During the meeting, the Finance Minister outlined the priorities and principles of the budget for the forthcoming fiscal year. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to creating an environment that promotes foreign direct investment and nurtures a positive atmosphere for private sector investment.

The Finance Minister emphasised the importance of foreign investment and assistance, stating that the mobilisation of internal resources alone is not sufficient to meet the government's development goals. He confirmed that the country has launched initiatives and formulated the necessary strategy to graduate Nepal from a least developed country to a developing country by 2026, and to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.

"We need considerable investment to achieve these ambitious development goals, and we are keen to collaborate with development partners to accomplish this," he stated.