The budget of Government of Nepal for Fiscal Year 2077/78

Finance Minister Yuvaraj Khatiwada has just presented the 13^th budget of the Republic of Nepal for fiscal year 2077/78. (13^th after Nepal has declared as republic Nepal)

This budget is expected as a most-awaited and important document for reviving the social and economic life of the people and nation.

Here is a summary of the budget presented in the context of the panic and lockdown created by the Corona epidemic.

Objectives of Budget 2077/78

• To make the life of the people calm and safe by protecting the lives of the residents from all kinds of diseases and disasters including contagiousness.

• To give stimulus to the pace of economic development by mobilizing the available resources, opportunities, and capacity at the maximum level.

• To increase the welfare-oriented role of government by fulfilling the fundamental and basic rights of the citizens, and

• To build uplifting, prosperous, independent, prosperous and socialism-oriented economy through social, economic and quantifiable development.

Priorities of the budget of the government of Nepal

Following are the major areas of property addressed in the budget speech;

• Expansion of health services, construction, and upgrading of health infrastructure and development of health manpower to retain the citizens safe from all kinds of health risks including pandemic coronavirus, and to make quality health services collectively accessible.

• Rehabilitation of exaggerated areas like agriculture, industry, tourism, construction by reestablishing the supply chain fragmented as a result of steps taken for the prevention of coronavirus infection.

• Job and employment opportunities, safe housing, long-lasting social security and protection for the citizens.

• Implementation and completion of incomplete and quick return-oriented projects to be completed in the coming year.

• Development and building of social, economic, and physical infrastructure including quality and life useful or occupational education, expansion of information technology, and basic drinking water.

• Implementation of federalism, quality, and accessible social services and consolidation of the accountable and transparent governance system.

Some major figures of budget

    Expected economic growth rate= 2.3%

    The total amount of budget= Rs. 1474.64 billion

•     Current Expenditure= Rs. 948.94 billion (64.35%)
•     Capital Expenditure= Rs. 352.91billion (23.93%)
•     Financial Management Expenditure= Rs. 172.79 billion (11.72%)

        Source of Financing

•         Rs. 879 billion=Revenue
•         Rs. 60 billion= Foreign grants
•         Rs. 299 billion= Foreign loan

Other points;

• Federal government Rs. 36.35 billion to states and Rs. 161.08 billion to the local levels through conditional grants.
• Rs. 90.69 billion allocated for the health sector and Rs. 11.60 for creation of 200,000 jobs.
• Continuity to social security schemes
• Incentive allowances for doctors involved in the treatment of COVID-19 infected and free health insurance up to Rs. 500,000
• Rs. 3.22 billion is allocated for agriculture pocket sector
• Rs. 1.26 billion is allocated for the development of infrastructure related to tourism
• Rs. 6 billion is allocated for the President’s educational reform program
• Rs. 50 billion funds are to be created for the lending loans to Corona affected people.

Announcing budget every is a common phenomenon and it has become compulsory as it is mentioned in the constitution to be announced every Jestha 15 and following the same the budget for fiscal year 2077/78 has also out. 

We have so many experts and analysts to analyze how the budget is and how it should be. For a layman like me, it is always a matter of better implementation and the use of allocated resources.

The majority of ordinary citizens do not believe that the budget will be implemented according to what the finance minister said as always through the budget speech.

For them, even the size and amount of budget also does not matter as they have been listening to a similar kind of budget speech for very decades. 

So, it all depends on how the country and system will implement it and how far it will affect the life of every poor and common individual of the society.

You can find the pdf of the budget of the government of Nepal for fiscal year 2077/78. For this click the download; 

(Detailed analysis will come very soon)