Finance Minister Clarifies Budget Size Remains Unchanged Amid Mid-Year Review

Kathmandu. Finance Minister Rameswor Khanal has clarified that the size of the budget has not decreased. While reviewing the budget for the current fiscal year 2082/83 at the mid-year point, Khanal stated that the total budget size remains at NPR 1.964 trillion.

This amount can be made available if government agencies demonstrate the capacity to spend that budget. However, he noted that there are challenges in budget mobilization. Finance Minister Khanal further stated that the Nepal government's consolidated fund currently has a deficit of NPR 130 billion.

According to him, if the consolidated fund cannot provide the necessary funds, some controls will need to be implemented, and there is a need to mobilize the budget to the right places based on priority as much as possible.

Finance Minister Khanal informed that projects worth NPR 119 billion were postponed after an initial evaluation because they were not ready or did not appear to offer good returns. The policy is to discuss with the Ministry of Finance and lift the freeze once these projects are prepared and the tender process moves forward. So far, NPR 42 billion for some projects has already been unfrozen.