GANDAKI, May 18: The size of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83 is set to decrease in Gandaki Province due to the reduction in equalization grants and revenue collection.
The Provincial Resource Estimates Committee has recommended that the provincial government, which introduced a budget of Rs 32.97 billion in the current fiscal year, bring a budget equivalent to Rs 29.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.
According to Dilliram Rizyal, Head of the Budget and Program Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the budget ceiling has decreased ministry-wise as the overall budget is estimated to decrease by almost three billion rupees. Due to deductions in equalization and supplementary grants, pressure has increased on budget formulation, and the internal resources of the province have not been able to increase either.
He said that with two months left to the end of the fiscal year, only 52 percent of the target revenue has been collected. He said that only about 70 percent of the target revenue will be collected in the current fiscal year.
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The Provincial Policy and Planning Commission, however, has stated that the provincial budget may increase based on the budget brought by the federal government. The commission has set a ceiling of Rs 9.48 billion for the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management alone. In the current fiscal year, the ministry had a budget of Rs 12.7 billion.
Similarly, the budget formulation work is underway by setting a ceiling of Rs 2.67 billion for the Ministry of Health, Rs 1.35 billion for the Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports, Rs 900 million for the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and Rs 650 million for the Ministry of Industry and Tourism. A ceiling of Rs 1.15 billion has been set for the Office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers and Rs 133.6 million for the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has moved forward with preparations for budget allocation in the upcoming budget, giving priority to agriculture, tourism, and health.
The budget priorities will be determined based on the province's second five-year plan, says the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It has started discussions with line ministries on budget formulation.
There is a constitutional provision that requires the provincial governments to make their financial year budget estimates public by Asad 1 in the lunar calendar.
