Budget Presentation Today; History of Controversies Recalled

Kathmandu. The budget for the fiscal year 2083/84 is coming today. Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle will present the budget in a joint meeting of the Federal Parliament at 4 PM. This is the first budget to be presented by the government led by the Rastriya Swatantra Party. It is also Finance Minister Wagle's first budget. The budget, to be presented by a government that won the election with a good governance agenda, is expected to emphasize this theme. The National Planning Commission initially set a limit of 18 kharba 90 arba for the budget, but at the government's request, this has been increased to over 21 kharba. Nepal's budget history spans 75 years. The first budget of the country was presented in the year 2008 BS. It was presented by Finance Minister Subarna Shamsher of the government led by Mohan Shamsher after the attainment of democracy. The budget at that time was only 5 crore 25 lakh rupees. After 75 years, the budget to be presented today will be over 20 kharba, according to sources in the Ministry of Finance. There is a history of various incidents related to the budget presentation process and its content in Nepal. Here, we will present highlights of controversial incidents in parliament during the 75-year history of the budget.

That Scene When the Briefcase Was Snatched The scene during the budget presentation in the tenure of Finance Minister Surendra Pandey was quite interesting. The CPN (Maoist) Unified, the largest party in parliament, was in opposition. The government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal was in a caretaker capacity. There was a situation where a new government could not be formed. The Maoists insisted that a caretaker government should not present a budget. However, a full budget had to be presented as expenditure had already been incurred through the presentation of an advance expenditure bill. During this time, a commotion ensued when Minister Pandey was about to present it. Opposition MPs from the then CPN (Maoist) Unified attacked Minister Pandey against the controversial budget. They snatched the budget briefcase from the minister's hand and even struck the minister with the same briefcase, causing minor injuries to Pandey. Finally, the government presented the budget through an ordinance after ending the parliamentary session.

When 'Crore' Was Written Instead of 'Arba' The budget was not without controversy during the tenure of Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya. Mahesh Acharya, who became Finance Minister in the Krishna Prasad Bhattarai-led government formed after the re-establishment of multi-party democracy, presented the 2048 BS budget. In that budget, a single digit change caused a major controversy in parliament. MPs protested when 'crore' was written instead of 'arba' in a budget allocation item. There was a mistake in the number of zeros behind the figure in that budget. Taking this issue, Minister Acharya, while remaining calm and without blaming any employee, accepted the mistake himself and apologized amidst the uproar in parliament.

That Incident When the Budget Was Leaked in the Newspaper Before Reading In 2051 BS, the first communist government with a majority was formed in the country. Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari of the communist government presented the first budget of Nepal focused on social security in 2051 BS. Popular social security programs like old-age allowance were introduced during this time. Through this program, not only Bharat Mohan Adhikari but the entire party became popular. However, the budget presented by him in the fiscal year 2068/069 became controversial. The tax portion, considered an important part of the budget, was leaked before being presented in parliament. At that time, there was opposition citing a breach of budget confidentiality.

Bishnu Poudel's Budget Printed in the Newspaper The budget presented by then Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel in 2073/74 BS also became controversial. On the day of the budget presentation, the size and programs of the budget were published verbatim in the newspaper printed that morning, leading to criticism. Some MPs criticized him, saying he was reading the newspaper report instead of the budget.

Allegation of Unauthorized Person's Entry During the budget preparation for the fiscal year 2079/80, then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma faced significant controversy, with allegations that an unauthorized person was allowed to alter tax rates. Following the controversy, he resigned, and a parliamentary inquiry committee was formed. However, after receiving a clean chit from the committee, he was reappointed as Finance Minister.

Controversy Over Chocolate Customs Duty Rate In the budget for the fiscal year 2077/78, then Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada reduced the customs duty on chocolates imported from abroad from 40 percent to 30 percent through the budget. During the lockdown, when people were facing economic hardship, the reduction in tax on a luxury item like chocolate and the direct benefit to a business house led to widespread criticism of policy corruption. The Finance Minister explained that the rate was reduced to prevent chocolate smuggling. The rate was later corrected.