Adhikary defends budget transfer
KATHMANDU, June 7:
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary today said the government had followed financial procedure, law and regulations while transferring budget from one programme to another.
“The Ministry of Finance has done nothing wrong by transferring the budget,” Adhikary told parliamentary Public Accounts Committee today. “Law of the land allows us to transfer 10 per cent of budget from one programme to another.”
The ministry has transferred Rs 16.57 billion from 315 programmes. According to the ministry, Rs 15.42 billion has been readjusted in recurrent expenditure and Rs 1.15 billion in capital expenditure till date.
Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota also said money from low priority programmes had been transferred to avoid budget freeze.
According to him, even after the readjustment, total freezable budget of this year is around Rs 31 billion. Baskota said the ministry had transferred Rs 2.63 billion to Nepal Oil Corporation, Rs 300 million to Sikta irrigation, Rs 165 million for buying excise duty stickers, Rs 90 million for government medals and Rs 60 million for ownership transfer of vehicles gifted by the United Nations Mission in Nepal.
However, lawmakers, who were not convinced by the finance minister and his secretary’s argument, advised the ministry to post freezable budget only on priority and mega development projects. “We don’t think all money transfers have been made with good intention. The move seems to be politically motivated,” said PAC member Dhan Bahadur Gurung. Former finance minister Prakash Chandra Lohani, also a PAC member, linked the budget transfer issue with ill-timed budget presentation.
Some lawmakers questioned why the government had allocated budget for some NGOs and ‘high profile’ martyrs.
The government has decided to give Rs 5 million each to three organisations, including Jivraj Ashrit and Krishna Sen Ichchhuk memorial foundations. The government has also allocated Rs 2 million to NGO Federation Nepal. Lawmaker Sahadev Ojha stressed on adopting a carrot and stick approach for civil servants to get better results in budget expenditure.
Source: THT
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikary today said the government had followed financial procedure, law and regulations while transferring budget from one programme to another.
“The Ministry of Finance has done nothing wrong by transferring the budget,” Adhikary told parliamentary Public Accounts Committee today. “Law of the land allows us to transfer 10 per cent of budget from one programme to another.”
The ministry has transferred Rs 16.57 billion from 315 programmes. According to the ministry, Rs 15.42 billion has been readjusted in recurrent expenditure and Rs 1.15 billion in capital expenditure till date.
Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota also said money from low priority programmes had been transferred to avoid budget freeze.
According to him, even after the readjustment, total freezable budget of this year is around Rs 31 billion. Baskota said the ministry had transferred Rs 2.63 billion to Nepal Oil Corporation, Rs 300 million to Sikta irrigation, Rs 165 million for buying excise duty stickers, Rs 90 million for government medals and Rs 60 million for ownership transfer of vehicles gifted by the United Nations Mission in Nepal.
However, lawmakers, who were not convinced by the finance minister and his secretary’s argument, advised the ministry to post freezable budget only on priority and mega development projects. “We don’t think all money transfers have been made with good intention. The move seems to be politically motivated,” said PAC member Dhan Bahadur Gurung. Former finance minister Prakash Chandra Lohani, also a PAC member, linked the budget transfer issue with ill-timed budget presentation.
Some lawmakers questioned why the government had allocated budget for some NGOs and ‘high profile’ martyrs.
The government has decided to give Rs 5 million each to three organisations, including Jivraj Ashrit and Krishna Sen Ichchhuk memorial foundations. The government has also allocated Rs 2 million to NGO Federation Nepal. Lawmaker Sahadev Ojha stressed on adopting a carrot and stick approach for civil servants to get better results in budget expenditure.
Source: THT
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