Bagmati Province Government to Present 10th Budget of Over NPR 66 Billion

Hetauda. The Bagmati Province Government is preparing to present the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83 at the Provincial Assembly meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon at 4 PM. This will be the 10th budget presented by the provincial government. The provincial government is preparing to propose a budget of over NPR 66 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. According to the agreement reached between the ruling coalition partners CPN (UML) and Nepali Congress, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Prabhat Tamang, is preparing to present a budget of approximately that amount. A source from the Chief Minister's office stated that although the initial budget source was estimated at NPR 50 billion due to the increasing pressure of development construction plans in the province, an agreement has been reached to present a budget of up to NPR 66 billion as demand increased. According to him, there is increasing pressure to increase the budget size due to the high demand from parliamentarians and planned needs. However, the source stated that Minister Tamang is firm that a budget of a larger size than the source estimate cannot be presented, and the budget ceiling has been set accordingly. The Ministry of Finance has already distributed the budget ceiling to the ministries, and administrative restructuring is being prepared to be implemented from July. The provincial government had presented a budget of NPR 67 billion in the current fiscal year.

Past Budget Status

With the implementation of federalism in the country, the Bagmati Province Government has presented 9 annual budgets so far. The province's budget journey, which started from fiscal year 2074/75, has been seen to expand in terms of both size and expenditure in recent years. According to the Economic Survey 2082/83, the provincial government's spending capacity has gradually improved. The budget, which started at NPR 1.02 billion 5 million in fiscal year 2074/75, has reached NPR 67.47 billion 73 million by fiscal year 2082/83. During this period, the size of the provincial budget has increased approximately 70 times. The largest budget of NPR 70.93 billion 93 million was allocated in fiscal year 2079/80. Although the spending capacity appeared weak in the initial years, it has been improving in recent years. In fiscal year 2081/82, the provincial government spent 71.90 percent, demonstrating its highest performance to date. Before that, 70.98 percent was spent in fiscal year 2080/81. In the first fiscal year 2074/75, only 26.40 percent of the allocated budget could be spent. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2082/83 (until the end of Falgun), 22.30 percent of the total allocation, i.e., NPR 15.05 billion 44 million, has been spent.

The Bagmati Province Government has been prioritizing capital expenditure (development expenditure) in its budget every year. There is a tendency to focus the budget particularly on physical infrastructure. In the last fiscal year 2081/82, 39.86 percent of the total allocation was for current expenditure and 57.82 percent for capital expenditure. In the same year, capital expenditure reached up to 78.77 percent.

Comparative Status of Budget and Expenditure for 9 Years (in NPR Crore)