May 11: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat held a productive meeting with heads and representatives of international development partners in Nepal to discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2080/081 today.

During the meeting, the Finance Minister shared the government's priorities and the guidelines and principles that will be taken into account for the upcoming budget.

He expressed the government's commitment to making maximum use of available resources while ensuring that investments are directed towards productive sectors to help pay both the principal and interest.

The international development partners in attendance expressed their support for the government's priorities and programs, and pledged to mobilize foreign aid through Nepal's national policy, system, and structure.

They also offered valuable suggestions to improve capital expenditure, management of public institutions, avoiding duplication of expenditure, and the preparation of blueprints for internal resource mobilization.

Moreover, there were suggestions to increase investment in health, education, social security, and nutrition, expand the scope of taxes, improve capital expenditure and gradually shift the informal sector to the formal sector.

The Finance Minister also called for substantial subsidies and foreign loans, including aid to address the impact of climate change, which Nepal is not responsible for.

Representatives of the multilateral development partners such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Finance Corporation, United States Agency for International Development, Embassies of Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Germany, and the European Union were present in the meeting.