Govt unveils budget of Rs 1.860 trillion for the FY 2024/25, 6.2 percent more than the budget for current FY

Published On: May 29, 2024 08:30 AM NPT By: RAJESH KHANAL

Govt breaches the budget ceiling of Rs 1.8 trillion given by the NPC

KATHMANDU, May 29: The government has announced a total budget of Rs 1.860 trillion for the fiscal year 2024/25.

Presenting the annual budget for the next fiscal year in a joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday, Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun unveiled the aforementioned budget, which is more than the ceiling of Rs 1.8 trillion set by the National Planning Commission. The budget that the coalition government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced is the largest one till date.

The size of the budget for the next fiscal year is 6.2 percent bigger than that of the amount allocated for the current fiscal year. Of the total amount, Rs 1.14066 trillion (61.31 percent) has been allocated under recurrent expenditure, while Rs 352.35 billion (18.94 percent) has been allocated as capital expenditure. In the current fiscal year, the amounts under those headings are Rs 1.141 trillion and Rs 302 billion, respectively.

The government has earmarked Rs 367.18 billion for financing provision for the next FY, which is 19.4 percent more than Rs 307.45 billion allocated for the current FY. There is a notable rise in the funds allocated for the principal and interest repayment on the public debt mainly due to massive surge in both the domestic and external loans taken by the government. Citing inadequate revenue collection, the government this year has managed a large amount of funds mainly from borrowings.

According to Finance Minister Pun, the government has rendered more priority to sectors like agriculture, energy, IT, tourism, and domestic production in the budget.

“The main objectives of the budget include increase in production, increase in productivity and employment opportunities, enhancement of confidence of the private sector to increase investment and to grow economic activities, development of human resources, balanced and equitable mobilization of resources to reduce income inequality and to mitigate poverty and effective public service delivery,” Pun said.