KATHMANDU: The budget presented by the government for the coming Fiscal Year 2020/21 (Appropriation Bill) on May 28 has been passed by a majority in the House of Representatives (HoR).
The size of the budget for the coming fiscal year has been reduced due to the coronavirus epidemic. For the current fiscal year 2020/21, Finance Minister Dr. Yuvaraj Khatiwada had last week presented a budget of Rs 1.474 trillion for the coming fiscal year.
Minister Khatiwada, in his budget speech, said a total of Rs 948.94 (64.4%) billion has been allocated for the recurrent expenditure.
Likewise, a total of Rs 352.91 (23.9%) billion was allocated for capital expenditure and 172 (11.7%) billion has been allocated for financial management in the next fiscal year.
Similarly, the budget 2020/21 has targeted to raise a total of Rs 889.62 billion through revenue collection.
It has also aimed at raising Rs 60.52 billion through foreign assistance. Likewise, the budget has also aimed at raising Rs 225 billion and Rs 299.50 billion through internal and external debts, respectively.
The budget passed by a majority in the HoR has to be endorsed by the National Assembly as well. In the National Assembly, as in the House of Representatives, there will be a discussion on ministerial topics. The budget will be passed after the concerned minister responds.
Once passed by both houses of the federal parliament, it will pave the way for the government to spend the budget from the new fiscal year.
Expenditure cut proposal rejected
The lawmakers had proposed 26 expenditure cuts on various ministries in the budget for the coming fiscal year. However, the proposal for cut of expenditures have been rejected by a majority by the parliament.
Lawmakers Durga Poudel, Pushpa Bhusal, Prem Suwal, Uma Regmi, Sanjay Kumar Gautam, Umakant Chaudhary, Laxmi Pariyar, Sujata Pariyar, Rangmati Shahi, Minendra Rijal, Pradeep Yadav, Bahadur Singh Lama, Rambabu Kumar Yadav, Dilla Sangraula, Rajendra KC, Devendra Raj Kandel , Min Bahadur Bishwakarma, Parvati DC Chaudhary, Padmanarayan Chaudhary, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Gagan Thapa, Athar Kamal Musalman, Narayan Khadka, Dilendra Prasad Badu, Bhimsen Das Pradhan and Prakash Man Singh had submitted proposals for cutting the expenditure.
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