KATHMANDU: The government has issued 73-point guidelines for the enforcement of the budget, directed at all ministries, provincial governments, and local governments. The Finance Ministry made public the circular, which aims at promoting efficiency in budget spending and enhancing effectiveness.

The guidelines cover various agendas, including the authority of budget spending, project approval and allocation, project handover and enforcement, budget transfer, amendment and reporting, fiscal transparency, accountability, and monitoring.

According to the circular, government bodies allocated budgets for implementation in partnership must inform the Finance Ministry and the Financial Comptroller General Office about the budget share and expected results. Additionally, work procedures for budget implementation should be prepared within this month and updated on the website within a week after endorsement.

Approval from the Finance Ministry is mandatory for work procedures requiring long-term liability. The adoption of two-shift work has been recommended for projects of national priority.

As per the guidelines, project chiefs should be selected based on internal competition to ensure effective project enforcement. The new guidelines demand establishing criteria to discourage the transfer of employees assigned as project chiefs during the project term, except for those who fail to achieve adequate marks in performance evaluations.

Furthermore, any works not included in the budget must not be entertained. Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini informed that the guidelines would be useful in meeting liabilities incurred at the end of the fiscal year. -- RSS