Finance Ministry asks all govt. agencies to prepare guidelines for budget implementation by mid-August

Kathmandu: The Finance Ministry has issued a detailed guideline for all ministries, departments, commissions and the agencies of the province and local governments for effective implementation of the current fiscal year’s budget.

The Ministry has asked all the government agencies to prepare required procedures, directives, guidelines and standards for budget implementation by mid-August.

The guideline issued by the Ministry on July 17 stated that the procedures and directives for the budget implementation should be made public on the website of the concerned bodies within a week. It has mentioned that prior approval was mandatory in case the procedures and directives were to create financial liability.

According to the Finance Ministry, the temporary posts required for the operation of approved projects and programmes should be endorsed by the Council of Ministers by mid-August after approval from the Finance Ministry.

The Ministry has asked the bodies concerned to run their programmes by remaining under the allocated budget cap and not to carry out any of the programmes without approval from the Ministry in case of any additional financial burden.

Furthermore, the Ministry has directed the government agencies not to take consulting services except in the tasks that cannot be performed by the Ministry’s regular staff.

Likewise, supervision consultants will not be hired except for the mega and challenging projects. Public expenditure would be made meaningful and maximum austerity measures would be applied for drinking water, power tariffs, communications tariffs, fuel, official material, visits, training, seminars and other administrative costs.

Purchase of four-wheelers is discouraged, and prior approval from the Finance Ministry is made mandatory for foreign visits. The government institutions should prioritise government buildings for office operation, and the building with minimum facilities could be rented out of the major commercial centre only if the government buildings were not available.

The guideline stated that the government entities should inform the Ministry of Finance a week before to make payment of Rs 1 billion plus.

RSS