KATHMANDU, Dec 28: The federal government's task of budget formulation for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83 BS has been marred due to delay in amendment to the concerned laws.
Noting that amendment to the Federal Supplementary and Special Grants Work Procedure has not been made, the National Planning Commission (NPC) has adjourned the process of seeking plans and programmes from the provincial and local levels.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Finance is also confused on how to proceed with the budget preparation process for the upcoming fiscal year as the Financial Procedure and Fiscal Responsibility (First Amendment) Bill, 2081 BS is stuck in the parliament.
According to the provisions of the existing working procedure related to federal supplementary and special grants, the NPC should publish a notice by mid-December every year and solicit proposals from the province and local levels for the projects and programmes to be operated with grants under these headings for the next fiscal year.
Similarly, the province and local levels have to submit proposals to the NPC to receive such grants by mid-January.
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However, the NPC postponed the process of seeking proposals on the headings after the 53rd meeting of the National Development Problem Solving Committee chaired by the Prime Minister on November 15 decided to amend the existing working procedure related to supplementary and special grants. The Committee had directed the NPC to prepare a draft of the working procedure and submit it to the Council of Ministers within three months.
In this connection, NPC Vice-Chair Prof Dr Shivaraj Adhikari said although there will be some delay in seeking proposals for supplementary and special grant schemes and programs, the process will gain momentum as per the new and revised procedure.
"We have tried to make it equitable by amending the procedure. The commission is in the process of amending the working procedure and sending it to the Council of Ministers," Adhikari said, adding "The grants will be distributed in a refined, inclusive and equitable manner than in the past."
He further said NPC will extend the time to invite proposals for grants under the headings.
The Committee meeting had decided to amend the working procedure in a way that the share of investment in supplementary grants as per the financial capacity of the local levels and provinces would be financially capacity-friendly and contribute to the enhancement of socio-economic equality.
Similarly, the existing procedures are being amended to ensure balanced development of the projects run under the special grants, to contribute to the uplift and development of the discriminated class or community.
The principles and priorities, and policies and programs of the budget brought by the government every year have not been adequately discussed. The issue of fixing the budget calendar was frequently raised in the parliament.
Point no. 29 of the annual budget for the last fiscal year 2080/81 BS stated that arrangements would be made to present the principles and priorities of the appropriation bill in the federal parliament by mid-March after the determination of ministry-wise budget limits from the next fiscal year.
In order to implement this provision of the budget, the government issued the 'Financial Procedure and Fiscal Responsibility (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2080 BS' last January. The ordinance paved the way for the government to present the principles and priorities of the budget in parliament by mid-March and also amended the earlier deadline to fix the ceiling of the budget.
Through the same ordinance, the principles, priorities, policies and programs and budget for the current fiscal year 2081/82 BS were also brought. However, the ordinance could not be passed by parliament within the stipulated time and was therefore repealed.
The government has registered the 'Financial Procedure and Responsibility (First Amendment) Bill, 2081' in the House of Representatives on August 16 to amend the budget calendar. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether the budget for the next fiscal year will follow the schedule of the existing Act or go by the provisions of the ordinance last year or the bill currently under consideration in parliament.
