February 12: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year 2022/23.

 Presenting a half-yearly review report on the budget for the current fiscal year 2022/23 at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Sunday, Finance Minister Poudel cut the budget by Rs 244 billion, which is 14 percent of the total budget. 

Minister Poudel has downsized the budget of Rs 1793.83 billion brought by former Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to Rs 1549.99 billion. Poudel has also trimmed the revenue collection target of Rs 1341 billion to Rs 1244.75 billion for the current fiscal year. 

During his address to the meeting of the House of Representatives, Poudel said that the government would adopt austerity measures and re-prioritise the expenditures.

The government estimates that Rs 1021.92 billion will be spent for administrative expenses while Rs 313.83 billion will be used under capital expenditure. Similarly, the government will spend Rs 214 billion towards financial management, according to Poudel.