Pre-budget discussions begin

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 6: The Ministry of Finance has started ministry-level discussions for budget formulation for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26.

In this context, the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday consulted with the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and its subordinate departments and agencies.

On the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel said that a disciplined and realistic budget will be introduced in the fiscal year 2025/26. 

He said that when a realistic budget is introduced, there will be no need for transfers and amendments in between and there will be no problems in implementation of the budget.

Deputy Prime Minister Paudel expressed the view that the budget will be prepared by internalising the principles and values of the budget and learning from past experiences. 

He emphasised on preparing the budget with special attention to federalism and the role of the federal government as there are federal, provincial and local governments. 

The Deputy Prime Minister is confident that everyone will take ownership of the budget as it will be prepared in coordination among ministries and various agencies.

Stating that post-disaster reconstruction should be given priority, DPM Paudel has said that the budget for the upcoming fiscal year will be formulated by aligning policies and programmes with the budget.

He urged the concerned ministries to defer projects that cannot be implemented and are in low priority and to include only implementable plans and projects.

Similarly, it has been suggested to gradually reduce the number of ongoing projects by stopping small projects and programmes. 

He said that only projects for which preliminary preparations have been completed and where the need is urgent should be included. 

Deputy Prime Minister Paudel suggested that programmes be proposed keeping the budget ceiling in mind.

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Devendra Dahal, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Prof. Dr. Shivaraj Adhikari, Finance Secretary Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, Revenue Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire and Secretary at the Physical Infrastructure and Transport Keshab Kumar Sharma.