Budget for FY 2026/27 today

Kathmandu, May 29: Amidst high public expectations for departure in development, governance and job creation, Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle is presenting the budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026/27 at the joint session of the Parliament on Friday.

The government of the almost two-thirds majority in the parliament has prioritised good governance, economic reform, connectivity, human capital development and enhancement of soft power. 

Responding to the demands made for economic reforms and fast-tracking development, FM Dr. Wagle had emphasised earlier that with the strategic implementation of election promises of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), epoch-making changes would be announced through the budget. 

According to him, the upcoming budget will implement good governance by enhancing digital public service delivery to end delays, bureaucratic hurdles and unnecessary intermediaries. 

There is curiosity in the public about the innovative approaches the Finance Minister will employ as a remedy to long-standing development challenges. 

Presenting the priorities of the upcoming Appropriation Bill 2083, he said earlier that the public institutions would be freed from unlawful capture and exploitative practices, and investigations into money laundering, revenue leakage, misuse of public resources and organised crime would be made more result-oriented. 

Dr. Wagle has also accorded priority to expanding the middle class by ensuring economic mobility and social security. Through the development of commercial agriculture and expansion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, more jobs and economic stability would be created. 

The government has received a ceiling of Rs. 1890 billion for the budget of the next fiscal. This is lower than the current FY 2025/26 budget of Rs. 1964.11 billion. 

Meanwhile, there have been talks about the government announcing a budget of above Rs. 2200 billion. That will create pressure for the government to generate resources to finance the projects and plans included and announced through the budget. The Finance Ministry has signalled that the salary of the government employees would be raised through the budget, while the ceiling of the income tax is also likely to go up. 

This year’s budget deficit was above Rs. 484 billion. The government had announced to manage Rs. 53.44 billion in grants, but only 38 per cent of it could be realised so far. Given the revenue realisation rate of about 70 per cent until Thursday, the country needs a massive expansion of the tax base, pragmatic reforms in tax administration and checking of revenue leakage both in the market and at the customs points. 

In the meantime, a large sum of money is needed for loan servicing – this year’s financing allocations were of Rs. 375.24 billion, and about 72 per cent progress has been achieved in this sector. 

While addressing the heightened public aspirations seems challenging amidst the resource constraints, the government has announced that the country would be ushered into a rapidly growing economy from the current sluggish progress. Such announcements are based on the already implemented or future reforms in the legal and business environment, the development of digital infrastructure, the expansion of MSMEs, and corruption control.  Likewise, large projects that are in the completion phase will get a priority. 

Through a statement on Thursday evening, the Finance Ministry informed that the budget drafting process was in the final stage. FM Dr. Wagle briefed President Ramchandra Paudel on the upcoming budget on Thursday afternoon. He informed the President about the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure for the FY 2026/27. 

On the occasion, the Finance Minister also presented the Economic Survey 2025/26 and the Annual Performance Review Report of Public Enterprises to the President. The reports were presented at the Parliament on Wednesday.