Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle Ready for Investigation into Budget Errors

Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has stated that he is ready to face any investigation regarding the alleged errors during budget preparation and changes in tax rates.

Responding to questions raised by MPs in the Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday, Finance Minister Wagle urged not to interpret human and technical errors as policy corruption.

Speaking about the demand for an investigation committee, Minister Wagle said, "If anyone has doubts about the intention, an investigation committee can be formed and studied, I fully welcome it. This may also be necessary for the image of the ministry and customs."

Minister Wagle stated that it is natural for small technical errors to occur when staff work tirelessly until 4-5 in the morning to finalize the draft for the budget on Jestha 15, as they did not sleep the previous night. He recalled that 73 rates were changed last year, clarifying that this year only one rate was changed on the customs side and some adjustments were made to the gold rate. 

Regarding the tax on electric vehicles (EVs), Minister Wagle said that vehicles up to 5 million have not been considered luxurious to address the aspirations of the middle class. He also clarified the matter of reducing the road construction fee from 5 percent to 2.5 percent, stating that the ministry had no role in the process of customs clearance of vehicles before the budget, calling it a business risk.

He stated that the issue of 16 pages of the budget being missing or changed was a technical problem with formatting. He said that the page numbers were shifted due to a 1-2 millimeter adjustment in column width, but the content was not altered in any way. 

Minister Wagle urged to focus on the major issues of billions in arrears and corruption pointed out in the annual report of the Auditor General, rather than getting stuck on small typing mistakes. "If this committee becomes active on billions of arrears and discrepancies, it will benefit the country more," he said.

As the head of the Finance Ministry, he pledged to take moral responsibility for the errors made by the staff and to be ready to answer any questions.