Finance Ministry asks for project plans within month

Kathmandu, July 19

In the backdrop of recurring poor budget execution for the past several years, the federal Finance Ministry has asked the line ministries to prepare the Project Implementation Action Plan of their programmes and projects including detailed activities, period to complete them, cost, result indicators and responsible officers by the end of the first month of the current fiscal year 2022/23 (mid-August 2022).

In the ‘Implementation guidelines of the budget of FY 2022/23’, it requested them to prepare the detailed plan and publish them at the project site and respective ministry’s website.

“For the effective execution of the budget, make a provision for the work performance with a work plan including the deadline for the project completion,” read the guidelines.

Likewise, it also asked to clear all the payment, except the amount the appropriation act has mandated for not to be frozen, before at least seven days from the end of the fiscal year.

The line ministries are also requested to conduct regular monitoring of the development projects and make provisions for expenditures as per the allocated budget.

In an effort to create the efficiency of budget mobilisation and lessen the hassles for the people, the guidelines instruct the concerned ministries to include all works for the water supply and sewerage, electricity poles and wires management and undergrounding in a package while opening a tender.

If any ministry has to allocate the resources to more than one agency under its jurisdiction, it should distribute the budget by mid-October and inform the Finance Ministry and concerned Treasury Controller Offices.

Similarly, to enhance the mobilisation of the budget, the government agencies are directed to provide financial and non-financial incentives to the construction entrepreneurs who complete the projects with the given quantity, cost and quality within the given deadline.

It also has asked to cancel the contract and punish the contractors if they fail to begin works at the given time, if they do not maintain the quality and do not follow the work plan.

Likewise, the contractors should mandatorily get the permission from the project chief if they had to make sub-contract agreement for a part of a project or all of it. All projects costing above Rs. 100 million should be quality-checked.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 20 July 2021.