Kathmandu: In view of the negative Federal Reserve Fund, lawmakers have emphasized the importance of maintaining fiscal discipline. Deliberations were conducted on the major contents of the 62nd report of the Office of the Auditor General during today’s meeting of the Federalism Enablement and National Concerns Committee under the National Assembly.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Upper House members highlighted the need for improvements in the negative status of the reserve fund and stressed the importance of fiscal discipline. Committee President Sonam Geljen Sherpa emphasized the need for the state to maintain transparency by reducing financial arrears. He noted that measures should be explored to alleviate debt over the state treasury fund and empower local governments to reduce arrears.
Lawmakers Narayan Dutta Mishra and Kiran Babu Shrestha echoed the need for reforms to reduce public debt while maintaining financial discipline. NA member Jag Prasad Sharma called for an end to corrupt practices.
Auditor General Toyam Raya pointed out the necessity for discussions on the reform aspects of the report in the coming days. He noted that the status of arrears is improving more rapidly at the local level compared to the federal level. “Up to eight percent of arrears remain to be settled at the local level, whereas it is 30 percent at the federal level,” he shared.
Deputy Auditor General Chandrakanta Bhandari stated that the exclusive and concurrent rights of the three tiers of government should be implemented with legal clarity. He mentioned that the virement or transfer of funds accounted for 14.64 percent of the total budget of Rs 1751.3 billion for the fiscal year 2080/81 BS.