Kathmandu: With merely 10 days to go for the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83 BS to be presented, the government is under pressure to screen projects and garner resources for the same. In the current context of short public revenue collection and a gradual increment in the graph of public borrowing, the government has remained incapable of raising resources as per the budget ceiling of around 1900 billion 650 million given by the National Resource Estimation Committee for the upcoming fiscal year.
According to National News Agency RSS, Vice Chair of the National Planning Commission, Dr. Shivaraj Adhikari, termed managing resources and prioritizing projects for the upcoming fiscal year’s budget as a big challenge. The commission held discussions today with former vice-chairs and members to address the challenges of resource management and to strategize what measures can be taken for prioritizing projects in the budget.
Dr. Adhikari stated that the revenue, which has shrunk since the COVID-19 pandemic, has not returned to its previous rhythm. Additionally, foreign grants are on the decline, with the problems becoming chronic, entangled, and systemic. He further highlighted the lack of coordination among various levels and entities, making resource management challenging. Due to this lack of resources, the government has been indicating that there will be substantial cuts to projects in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.
Dr. Adhikari shared that projects included in the government’s Red Book, which are not being implemented and are not yielding results, will face significant cuts. “The national project bank has a database of 18,100 plus projects as of the current fiscal year 2081/82 BS. Taking consideration of the resource capacity, we have revised the project bank containing only around 7,000 projects,” he informed.
He noted that projects estimated to cost over Rs. 30 million will be enlisted in the project bank, and projects that could not be implemented in five years will be automatically deactivated from the project bank. Projects with disclosed deadlines and costing, completion of preparedness, and the capacity to increase or transform public assets after completion are currently placed in the project bank.