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Kathmandu Wednesday February 07, 2001 Magh 25, 2057.
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MoF introduces new budget manual
Prem Khanal
KATHMANDU, Feb 6 - In the latest attempt to curb dismal government
expenditure and to enhance the effectiveness of the budgetary programs, Ministry of
Finance (MoF) has brought out a new Budget Preparation Manual (BPM) replacing old one
issued in 1997.
A top official of Ministry of Finance (MoF) told The Kathmandu Post that the
budget preparation for the forthcoming fiscal year has begun since the third week of
January, and next budget would be guided by the new manual. MoF is preparing to present
next year’s national budget during the third week of May. The prime objective of the
new manual is to create effective improvement on budgetary expenditures by achieving the
target through the elimination of various shortcomings seen in the past.
MoF officials are hopeful that the adoption of the new manual, which was
endorsed by the cabinet recently, would also be useful in fending off the long-standing
criticism of allocating budget in an ad-hoc manner.
The government, for the first time, had incorporated such manual some four
years ago after facing unforeseen problems in implementing time-bound budget programs due
to lack of specific directives on the formation, implementation and presentation of the
fiscal budget. However, plagued by various problems, the earlier manual could not produce
the desired goal.
"As per the clauses of the new manual, we have asked ministries and
concerned authorities to submit the details of the required regular expenditure for the
coming fiscal year," the official said. The new manual, with especial emphasis on the
institutional infrastructure, is divided into six sections and is focused on three main
core issues. Now, concerned government institutions would have to answer three major
questions to MoF while demanding budget. They are: what are the major objectives of the
programs; how much revenue can it generate and what is the cost of the program.
"Optimal use of available resources and simplification of the process of
monitoring and evaluation of government funded projects are some of the core objective of
the new manual" said an official of budget section, MoF.
With the enforcement of new manual, officials of MoF expect that various
problems being faced by the ministry for years would be solved to a large extend and it
would also make concerned authorities more responsible towards the commitments that they
had made while demanding budget.
With the objective to make the manual more dynamic, it has been divided into
six sections. Now the budget requisition will have to be submitted in the format based on
the new manual, clearly furnishing the modes of the financial use explanations and
management on the basis of priority of the projects.
Similarly, detailed information on budget head, physical property of
government, and adequate information explaining the time period and the responsible person
of the project are also required to be included.
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