NPC sets Rs 506b ceiling for budget 2013-14

KATHMANDU, MAR 08 -

The National Planning Commission (NPC) has set the ceiling for the next fiscal year’s budget at Rs 506 billion, and also fixed the upper limits for each ministry. The NPC has informed all the ministries about the maximum amount of their budget allocations, and asked them to prepare their programmes accordingly.

The government’s spending limit has been curtailed during this fiscal year due to the absence of a full budget. It can spend only Rs 351 billion, which is equivalent to last year’s expenditure, although the NPC had set the ceiling at Rs 429 billion.

“The budget size has been fixed considering the resources at our disposal,” said NPC joint secretary Pushpa Lal Shakya. “However, the figure may change as we are not the final authority to decide the size of the budget.” Government expenditure usually crosses the limit set in the financial plan as pet projects of the ruling parties are also included in the development programmes.

As is customary, the Ministry of Education will get the highest share of the budget of Rs 76 billion, followed by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development with Rs 46 billion. The third highest ceiling of Rs 34 billion has been fixed for the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and Technology and Environment has been given the highest raise of 69 percent followed by the Ministry of Agriculture with 41 percent. The Science Ministry’s upper limit has been fixed at Rs 7 billion. “As environment has been lumped with science this year, the ministry’s ceiling shot up accordingly,” said Shakya.

The budget ceiling for the Ministry of Agriculture Development has been fixed at Rs 20 billion. The Ministry of Law and Justice got Rs 125.4 million, the lowest.

Similarly, the NPC has fixed the targets for resource mobilization for the proposed expenditures. According to Shakya, revenue collection has been targeted to grow by 19.5 percent to Rs 345 billion. Another major source of funding is foreign aid, which is targeted to reach Rs 116 billion. The shortfall will be met by raising internal loans.

Shakya said that discussions on the budget for the next fiscal are expected to begin in the second week of April after the ministries present their programmes as per the ceilings fixed for them.

Source: The Kathmandu Post