KATHMANDU, Feb 18: Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission have jointly set a budget ceiling of Rs 270.4 billion for the next fiscal year that starts mid July 2009. The proposed expenditure is 14.57 percent higher than the budget of current fiscal year which is Rs 236.15 billion.
According to concerned officials involved, the proposed expenditure is about 84 percent of the total demand of Rs 322 billion made by constitutional bodies and ministries for the next year. [break]
The proposed recurrent expenditure for the next fiscal year is about Rs 139 billion while allocations for capital expenditure and principal repayment of domestic as well as foreign debts is Rs 114 billion and Rs 17 billion respectively.
Likewise, Ministry of Finance aims to mobilize revenue worth of Rs 167.4 billion in the next fiscal. This is 18 percent higher than the target fixed for the ongoing fiscal year. The proposed expenditure, which was reckoned by a resources committee led by Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, has recommended to the government to mobilize Rs 27.20 billion worth of internal borrowings, Rs 2.2 billion more than current year’s target.
The resources committee has also estimated to mobilize foreign aid worth Rs 76.17 billion, which is over 15 percent more than the target set for the current fiscal year. Among the ministries, the Ministry of Finance will continue to be the largest absorber of the government budget followed by Ministry of Local Development and Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. The government is likely to allocate around Rs 42 billion for the education sector against current fiscal year’s Rs 39 billion.
Similarly, Ministry of Local Development has been proposed to earmark over Rs 27 billion. Sources said the proposal includes more than doubling the government’s grant to District Development Committees (DDCs) to Rs 1.92 billion from existing Rs 800 million. Likewise, the resource committee has also proposed to earmark Rs 14 billion and Rs 13 billion for the home and defense ministries for the next fiscal.
Revised interest rate corridor system introduced
