Kathmandu: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, has made a firm declaration that projects and programs with costs below Rs 30 million should not be proposed in the budget for the forthcoming fiscal year.
According to National News Agency Nepal, this stance was conveyed during separate discussions with officials from the Ministry of Water Supply and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. These discussions were part of the preparations for formulating the budget for the next fiscal year.
During the meetings, Finance Minister Paudel urged government ministries to move away from the practice of including numerous small schemes and programs in the budget. He emphasized the necessity of proposing only major transformative projects and national priority initiatives that are already in the preparation phase.
Furthermore, Finance Minister Paudel highlighted the importance of enhancing the role of provincial and local levels in executing projects. He suggested that projects within the capacity of these levels should be handed over to them for implementation, with the provision of seed capital as a one-time assistance.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Water Supply Pradeep Yadav, Minister for Federal Affairs Raj Kumar Gupta, National Planning Commission (NPC) Vice Chairman Shivaraj Adhikari, the Finance Secretary, the Revenue Secretary, the Water Supply Secretary, and the Federal Affairs Secretary, among other officials.