FinMin discusses budget with ministry secys, NA officials

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday discussed the upcoming budget for the Fiscal Year 22022/23 with the secretaries, joint secretaries of all the ministries and the Nepali Army. During the discussion, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma directed all the ministries to submit action plan within seven days on the programmes and policies to be formulated by the federal, provincial and local levels exercising their rights as per the spirit of federalism. He said that there was a tendency in the federal budget to include fragmented plans that could be formulated at the province and local levels which do not work. ‘Some rights have been divided among federal, provincial and local levels since the country adopted the federal system. So, let's not violate the constitution and let province and local levels do their work. This way, it will be easier for the federal body to send small projects to the province and local levels, Minister Sharma said. He emphasized allocating the budget to the local levels. The finance minister also directed the ministries to submit action plans on the selection of projects and the kind of policies and programmes to be formulated. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology was directed to provide details on the number of schools and students across the country and the estimated details of the students who may be enrolled in the new session. He also suggested conducting research by allocating budget to strengthen the organisation. Likewise, Sharma directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to submit an action plan for import replacement arguing that there was no need to import paddy and rice if farmers were provided with a sufficient quantity of improved varieties of seeds. "If we give enough improved varieties of seeds to the farmers this year, then next year paddy will be harvested without having to import," the finance minister stated. He underscored the need to focus on economic prosperity through production and employment growth." During the programme, Minister Sharma expressed frustration over the progress of the National Pride project. He pointed out, "The name is fast track but the work is being carried out on slow track. As a result, time and cost have become very expensive,” he said and added, "Now it's time to move on." The ministries and agencies were also asked to submit a plan to reduce current expenditure. In the current fiscal year 2021/22, general expenditure of Rs 1,065 billion has been allocated. During the discussion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said there is a challenge in preparing the budget. He suggested the budget programmes be presented within the limits of financial discipline and limited resources. READ ALSO:

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