April 27: The government intensified consultations for preparing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2022/23) to be introduced on May 29, as per by the constitutional provision. The Ministry of Finance expedited the process of budget preparation, prioritizing the agriculture sector in order to revive the economy in the upcoming fiscal year.
On the one hand, a team led by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Bhupal Baral is mobilized to prepare the budget on time; while on the other hand, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma is also taking the lead. The budget preparation team has decided to not prioritize “popular programmes” as the economy was threatened by such programmes in the previous years.
Finance Minister Sharma has been saying that he will give priority to agriculture since a lot of agricultural produce is being imported. The ministry is preparing the budget in such a way that it would implement effective programmes rather than increase the budget for agriculture excessively. Though the budget will be focused on agriculture, Finance Minister Sharma has instructed the concerned officials not to emphasize on subsidy.
As per the suggestion of Finance Minister Sharma, the team is preparing the budget to encourage the farmers through timely availability of fertilizers, technology and through technical assistance. Prakash Sanjel, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture, informed that the ministry was given a budget ceiling of Rs 42.73 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the new budget prioritizes recovery from the current economic crisis, which should not be included in the next budget. As the current crisis is expected to improve in the next three months, ministry officials believe that no special programmes should be included in the new budget.
Despite the pressure on foreign exchange reserves, it is estimated that the foreign exchange reserves will become balanced ahead of the next budget. Based on the same estimate, a senior government official said there is no strategy to bring in new programmes. However, the budget will address the issue of reducing trade deficit, the official added.
The ministry stated that the budget will be based on the vision, goals, objectives, strategies, priorities, annual policies and programmes of the government. The principles of budget and priorities will also be taken into consideration along with sustainable development goals mentioned in the 15th periodic plan. In addition, emphasis will be put on efficient management of financial federalism, high economic growth, rapid economic and social development and effective implementation of development programmes and projects for equitable distribution. Also, welfare programmes will be emphasized through social security schemes.
The ministry drafted the thematic budget to ensure the required funds for projects of national pride, transformational projects, new programmes of high importance and other projects under multi-year contract. Finance Minister Sharma has emphasized on the need to merge or reject programmes or projects of the same nature.
