KATHMANDU: The meeting of the National Assembly on Tuesday passed three bills relating to the Appropriation Bill, 2076.

Financial Bill, 2076; Bill on Recovery of Debt, 2076; and Debt and Guarantee (23rd amendment), 2076 Bill, presented Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada, were passed unanimously by the meeting.

With the passage of these bills, the budget for the coming fiscal year has been passed. The House of Representatives had passed the Appropriation Bill, 2076 on Monday.

On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr. Khatiwada informed the Upper House that the government had aimed at ensuring secondary education free of cost and that the concept of compulsory departure to foreign countries for higher education must be declined.

This concept, as he argued, would be gradually declined because the colleges and universities providing international standard education were growing in Nepal.

However, he presented the data that the students opting for abroad study were spending Rs 45 billion annually, forcing the foreign currency flight which dents impact on the balance of payment and ultimately on the country’s economy.

Time has come for the country to take initiative to retain the hard earned foreign currency, he said, sharing the information that the arrangement was being made to ensure that parents of those leaving for abroad study to produce a certificate of tax payment. He made this remark while responding to lawmaker Jitendra Dev’s query why the students going abroad were being imposed two percent fee.

The National Assembly would meet next on July 19.