Kathmandu, June 16
Six provinces on Friday unveiled their annual income and
expenditure statements in the respective Provincial Assemblies while Koshi
Province government unveiled its budget for fiscal year 2023/24 through an
ordinance on Thursday.
In total, the seven provinces unveiled the budget of Rs. 279.57
billion with Bagmati Province having the largest budget at Rs. 62.70 billion. Bagmati announced the
largest budget among the provinces with the expenditure estimates of Rs. 62.70
billion while Sudurpaschim’s budget size is the smallest – Rs. 29.26.
Karnali province
brought out the budget larger than Sudurpaschim and almost at par with Gandaki.
Provinces have reduced the size of their budget of the next fiscal compared to
this year.
Bagmati: Rs.
62.70 billion
Bagmati Province has unveiled the largest budget among
seven provinces amounting to Rs. 62.70 billion for the next fiscal year 2023/24.
Economic Affairs Minister of the Province, Bahadur
Singh Lama, presented the budget at the Provincial Assembly on Friday.
The government has allocated Rs. 26.60 billion for
recurrent expenditure, Rs. 35.50 billion for capital expenditure and Rs. 500
million for financial management.
The share of recurrent, capital and financial
management in the budget is 42.58 per cent, 56.62 per cent and 0.8 per cent
respectively.
The province aims to raise Rs. 25.17 billion from tax
revenue, Rs. 5.26 billion from other revenue, Rs. 17.81 billion in fiscal
transfer from the federal government and reserve of the current fiscal year and
Rs. 14.55 billion from other recipients.
Compared to the current fiscal year’s budget of Rs. 70.93
billion, the size of the budget is smaller with an increased recurrent
expenditures and reduced capital expenditure.
Giving priority to agriculture development, the
Bagmati province government has allocated Rs.3.38 billion for the agriculture
sector.
Similarly, Rs.
2.16 billion has been allocated for the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Urban
Development, Rs. 3.03 billion for the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Rs.
770 million for the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Transport, Rs. 4.07
billion for the Ministry of Health and Rs. 21.66 billion for the Ministry of
Physical Infrastructure.
The purpose of the budget is to create jobs and
alleviate poverty through the development of the agricultural sector, increase
investment in economic and social infrastructure, strengthen the foundation of
a socialist-oriented economy, achieve sustainable economic development by
increasing production and productivity and protect and use natural resources.
The budget aims to adopt frugality in government
expenditure, maintain financial discipline and ensure efficient allocation.
The government has abolished various allowances in
order to cut current expenditures.
The budget has taken a policy of promoting homestays
and expanding tourism infrastructure and service facilities to extend the stay
of tourists.
For the promotion and development of religious,
cultural, environmental and rural tourism in Bagmati Province, it has made arrangements
to celebrate the year 2024 as the Year of Visiting Bagmati Province.
Madhes: Rs. 44.11 billion
The government of Madhes Province has
announced the budget or Rs. 44.11 billion for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023/24.
Minister for Economic Affairs of the
province, Sanjaya Kumar Yadav presented the budget at the provincial assembly.
The size of the budget is smaller by Rs. 2.77 billion from Rs. 46.88 billion of
the current fiscal.
He allocated Rs. 25.69 billion (58.25) for
capital expenditure, Rs. 18.22 billion (41.30 per cent) for recurrent expenses,
and Rs. 200 million (0.45) for financial management.
The budget has given priority to
infrastructure development, enhancing the quality of education and health
services, expanding irrigation facilities, employment and good governance.
Madhes government aims at raising about Rs.
4.38 billion from internal revenue and receiving Rs. 11.38 billion from the
federal government's revenue distribution.
Likewise, other sources of income are
fiscal equalization grant from the central government Rs. 7.41 billion, savings
from the current FY's Rs. 12.90 billion, special grant Rs. 490 million,
matching grant Rs. 980 million and conditional grants from the federal
government Rs. 4.56 billion.
Minister Yadav said that after managing
these resources, the budget still faces a deficit of Rs. 2 billion which would
be raised from internal borrowing.
He complained with the federal government
for pledging the least grants to the provinces in the next FY. "The
government of Madhes province has taken this case seriously since its major
resources were the federal grants. So, we urge the federal government to
immediately fulfill its commitments," he said.
Lumbini: Rs. 40.47
billion
Similarly, Lumbini provincial government announced a budget of Rs.
40.47 billion for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023/24. Economic Affairs Minister
of the province, Dhan Bahadur Maski, announced the budget which is smaller by
Rs. 2.16 billion compared to that of Rs. 42.63 of this FY 2022/23.
Giving priority to infrastructure construction, education, health,
agriculture, tourism and employment, Minister Maski allocated Rs. 23.25 billion
(57.45 per cent) for capital expenditure.
He earmarked Rs. 13.63 billion (33.68 per cent) for recurrent Rs.
3.58 billion (8.87 per cent) for fiscal transfers. A major reduction (Rs. 2.16
billion) is made in fiscal transfers.
The provincial government aims to raise Rs. 6.73 billion from
internal revenue.
Similarly, it has been estimated that Rs. 11.3 billion will be
collected from the revenue distribution,
Rs. 29 million from royalty, and Rs. 2.5 billion from the local levels.
The federal government's fiscal transfer will be reduced by about
Rs. 3 billion in the next FY. This year,
Lumbini has received Rs. 18.47 billion in grants which have been reduced to Rs.
15.38 billion for the next fiscal. The fiscal equalisation grant is reduced to
Rs. 8.14 billion for the next FY from Rs. 8.54 this year and the conditional
grant is adjusted to Rs. 5.83 billion from Rs. 8.71 billion.
Likewise, the special grant has been decreased to Rs. 560 million
from Rs. 883 million but matching grant is increased to Rs. 840 million for the
next year from 739 million of this year.
The government has allocated Rs.1 billion to implement Chief
Minister's Economic Development Programme. Promoting employment by developing
skills, capital and technology have got priority. The provincial government has
also arranged budget to promote domestically produced alcohol.
Gandaki: Rs.
33.42 billion
Similarly, the Gandaki Province government has
unveiled a budget of Rs. 33.42 billion for the next
fiscal year 2023/24.
Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Gandaki
Province Jit Prakash Ale Magar presented the new budget at the province
assembly meeting.
The government has presented a smaller budget for the
next fiscal year as compared to the current fiscal year’s budget.
Out of the budget allocation, Rs. 12.73 billion (38.1
per cent) has been allocated for recurrent expenditure, Rs. 20.19 billion (60.4 per cent) for capital
expenditure and Rs. 500 million (1.5 per
cent) for financial management.
It is estimated that Rs. 7.62 billion from the
financial equalisation grant received from the federal government and Rs. 9.5
billion from the revenue sharing are the sources of expenditure in the next
fiscal year.
The government projected that Rs. 400 million will be
received from royalty distribution, Rs. 4.94 billion for conditional grants, Rs.
840 million for supplementary grants and Rs. 700 million for special grants.
It is estimated that Rs. 5.16 billion will be mobilised
from the internal sources of the province.
The Minister for Finance has estimated that there will
be a cash balance of Rs. 3 billion from the implementation of the programmes
for the current fiscal year.
The Gandaki Province
government has reduced the cash subsidy programme through the budget brought
and made it production based.
The government has given priority to increasing
production and productivity of agricultural goods, promote tourism, employment
generation and sustainable and durable physical infrastructure.
Sudurpaschim: Rs. 29.26
billion
In Dhangadhi, Sudurpaschim Province government unveiled Rs. 29.26 billion budget for the next Fiscal Year
2023/24.
Economic Affairs Minister of the province, Naresh Kumar Shahi,
presented the budget for the next fiscal year at the provincial assembly. The
size of the budget is smaller by Rs. 7.48 billion compared to that of the
current fiscal year's Rs. 36.74 billion.
According to Shahi, the government has allocated Rs. 9.59 billion
(32.79 per cent) for recurrent and Rs. 17.2 billion (58.16 per cent) for
capital expenditures. Likewise, Rs. 2.34 billion (8.02 per cent) has been
allocated for inter-governmental fiscal transfers and Rs. 300 million (1.03 per
cent) for financial arrangements.
The government has allocated Rs. 960 million (Rs. 30 million each)
for all 32 constituencies of the province. A total budget of 96 million rupees
has been allocated for this programme.
The province aims to raise Rs. 1.50 billion from internal revenue
to finance its expenditures. Likewise, Minister Shahi informed that the
provincial government is likely to get Rs. 9.41 billion from the federal
government in revenue distribution.
Similarly, Rs. 8.52 billion will be received in fiscal equalisation
grant from the federal government while Rs. 3.86 billion would be saved from
the allocations of the current FY.
It is also said that Rs. 4.51 billion will be received as
conditional grants, Rs. 770 million as matching grant and Rs. 620 million as
special grants from the federal government.
Karnali: Rs.
33.37 billion
Karnali Province government has unveiled a budget of Rs. 33.37 billion for the next fiscal year 2023/24.
Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Karnali
Province government Bedraj Singh presented the annual income and expenditure of
the province at the meeting of the Provincial
Assembly.
The Karnali government has allocated around Rs. 9 billion (26.97 per cent) under the
heading of recurrent expenditure, Rs. 19.57 billion (58.65 per cent) under the
capital expenditure, and Rs. 4.80 billion (14.38 per cent) under fiscal
transfer.
For the current fiscal year 2022/23, the provincial
government had unveiled budget of Rs. 32.74 billion. Despite the reduction in
fiscal transfer from the federal government, the provincial government’s budget
is bigger by Rs. 1 billion than the current fiscal year.
The
province has set a target to mobilise Rs. 836 million from the internal revenue
of the province, Rs. 7.41 billion surpluses of the current fiscal year, Rs. 8.84
billion from the revenue distribution received from the federal government, Rs.
10.16 billion for financial equalisation, Rs. 761.6 million for supplementary
grants.
It is
estimated that Rs. 597.9 million will be mobilised towards special grants and Rs.
18.6 million will be mobilised through foreign aid. In the allocated budget, a
total of Rs. 4.80 billion has been transferred to the local level.
Similarly, Rs. 1.16 billion has been allocated to the local
level wards through the Chief Minister Employment Programme, said Minister
Singh.
Out of the allocated budget, the government has set
aside Rs. 10.14 billion for physical infrastructure, transportation and urban
development.
Similarly, Rs. 3.53 billion has been allocated for the
Ministry of Water Resources and Energy Development, Rs. 941 million to run
programmes related to drinking water and sanitation, Rs. 2.11 billion for
programmes related to land management, agriculture and cooperatives, Rs. 2.14
billion for industry, tourism, forest and environment.
The budget has targeted to create at least 10,000 jobs
every year through Karnali Prosperous Campaign in multi-sector use and
multi-stakeholder partnership.
A policy has been taken to expand the scope of taxes
related to revenue mobilisation.
The Koshi Province government unveiled a budget of Rs. 36.24 billion on Thursday.
(Written jointly with Laxman Kafle with inputs from Ram Mani Dahal, Navin Shahi, Bhuwan Karki, Dhirendra Prasad Sah, Abinash Chaudhary.)
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 17 June 2023.
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