Finance Minister pledges pragmatic approach in budget formulation

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Finance has initiated the formulation of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26.

Today, the Ministry consulted with the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, related departments and bodies, on the budget topic.

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel stressed the need for fiscal discipline and pledged to ensure the budget is realistic. He stated that a realistic budget would help avoid unnecessary transfers of funds and amendments.

He was of the view of learning from the past for the budget formulations. As he said, the budget will be made by ensuring coordination among the federal, province and local levels by considering the implementation of a federal setup in the country.

Underlining the need for cooperation and support from all ministers and other bodies in the budget formulation procedures to increase its ownership from all quarters, the Minister vowed to incorporate projects in the budget with a pragmatic approach. He proposed to downsize small projects in the budget.

Minister Paudel also called for careful consideration of budget ceilings when making proposals, urging ministries to plan their budgets in a strategic and organized manner.

The Natural Resources Estimation Committee has recommended a budget ceiling of Rs 196.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.