Sudurpashchim Province Initiates Budget Planning Amidst Performance Success and Spending Challenges

Dhangadhi. The Sudurpashchim Province government is currently engaged in preliminary preparations for the upcoming fiscal year's budget. Encouraged by securing the top position among the country's seven provinces in the performance evaluation conducted by the Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, the provincial government has begun estimating budget ceilings and revenue sources for the next year.

According to Ministry Information Officer Arjun Khadka, meetings of the resource estimation committee are currently underway as part of the initial phase of budget formulation.

‘A preliminary decision regarding the total resources and the size of the province's budget will be reached today. We have already received a figure of approximately 9 billion from the federal government as equalization grants, and the total budget size will be determined by projecting internal resources and other financial transfers,’ he stated.

According to Khadka, the budget for the upcoming fiscal year is estimated to be in the range of 30 to 31 billion. He informed that the total size of the budget will be finalized following discussions between high-ranking officials from the central bank, the planning commission, and the ministry of finance, after which the process of issuing budget ceilings to thematic ministries will begin.

In this year's evaluation, Sudurpashchim Province successfully secured the top position nationwide with a total score of 45.70. Due to its excellent performance, the provincial government has also received additional grants as a reward.

Information Officer Khadka stated that due to its outstanding performance, Sudurpashchim Province will receive an additional 137 million in equalization grants for the upcoming fiscal year. He noted that while the province received 8.9256 billion in equalization grants in the fiscal year 2080/81, this amount has increased to 9 billion in the current fiscal year.

However, the implementation of the current fiscal year's budget appears quite weak. Even after the end of the second trimester, the provincial government has not been able to spend even 10 percent of its capital or development budget.

The provincial government attributes the low budget expenditure to political and social movements. Minister of State for Economic Affairs Prakash Bahadur Bam stated that the impact of the Janajati movement and the elections held in Falgun caused problems in budget implementation.

According to data, the provincial government had announced a total budget of 33.4325 billion for the current fiscal year. However, by the end of Falgun, only 16.97 percent of the total budget, or 5.6744 billion, has been spent.

The situation regarding the capital budget, which is linked to development and construction, is even more critical. The ministry reported that out of the 13.6002 billion allocated for capital expenditure, only 1.9797 billion, or 9.99 percent, has been spent so far.

The provincial government attributes the low budget expenditure to political and social movements. Minister of State for Economic Affairs Prakash Bahadur Bam stated that the impact of the Janajati movement and the elections held in Falgun caused problems in budget implementation.

‘During the Janajati movement, arson occurred in the ministry and various subordinate offices. Many important documents were burnt and destroyed, which prevented work from progressing until Mangsir,’ said Minister of State Bam.

He mentioned that immediately after the movement subsided, the election code of conduct came into effect, which created obstacles in advancing new projects and payment processes. Nevertheless, the provincial government has set a target to accelerate projects where tender processes have been completed and work by consumer committees, aiming to spend more than 60 percent of the budget by the end of Ashar.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Law Hira Singh Sarki stated that although there was some delay in work due to staff being deployed for elections, the focus is now on utilizing the remaining budget in a result-oriented manner.