Kathmandu, June 16

All seven provinces today presented their budget for fiscal 2019-20 in their provincial assemblies. Provincial governments have primarily focused the budget on development of infrastructure, along with promotion of agriculture and tourism sector.

Province 1 government presented a budget worth Rs 42.20 billion. The budget presented by Minister of Financial Affairs and Planning Indra Bahadur Angbo gives due priority to agriculture and infrastructure development. The government plans to utilise Rs 18.54 billion as recurrent expenditure and Rs 23.57 billion as capital expenditure. The government has set aside Rs 1.28  billion for education, Rs 3 billion for drinking water and  sanitation and Rs 3.2 billion for irrigation. For this fiscal, Province 1 had tabled a budget of Rs 35.93 billion.

Province 2 government tabled a budget of Rs 38.72 billion. It aims to utilise Rs 19.11 billion as recurrent expenditure and Rs 19.26 billion as capital expenditure. The government has announced Rs 30 million for each constituency under the Constituency Infrastructure Development Special Programme. It gives priority to education, health and agriculture sectors. The government had presented a budget worth Rs 29.78 billion for the ongoing fiscal.

In Province 3, Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning Kailash Prasad Dhungel tabled a budget of Rs 47.6 billion for the next fiscal. It focuses on development of tunnels across different parts of the province, ring roads and other infrastructure. The government has allocated Rs 24.46 billion under recurrent expenditure and Rs 22.03 billion as capital expenditure. It  has allocated ample money for construction and completion of national pride projects that fall in the province. The government has announced construction of Pushpalal Ring Road to connect 13 districts in the province. Province 3 government had presented a budget worth Rs 35.61 billion for the ongoing fiscal.

Provincial budgets

Provinces

Budget for 2018-19

Budget for 2019-20

Province 1

Rs 35.93 billion

Rs 42.20 billion

Province 2

Rs 29.78 billion

Rs 38.72 billion

Province 3

Rs 35.61 billion

Rs 47.6 billion

Gandaki Province

Rs 24 billion

Rs 32 billion

Province 5

Rs 28.9 billion

Rs 36.41 billion

Karnali Province

Rs 28.28 billion

Rs 34.35 billion

Sudurpashchim Pradesh

Rs 25.6 billion

Rs 28.16 billion

Gandaki Province presented a budget worth Rs 32 billion for fiscal 2019-20 against Rs 24 billion budget for the ongoing fiscal. The budget was tabled by Kiran Gurung, minister of economic affairs and planning. It gives priority to programmes and policies announced in the previous budget. The government has earmarked Rs 12.28 billion under recurrent expenditure and Rs 19.85 billion under capital expenditure. The provincial government has allocated more than 40 per cent of the budget for development of physical infrastructure. Tourism, energy, hydropower and irrigation sectors have also been prioritised in the budget.

Province 5 government presented a budget of Rs 36.41 billion for the upcoming fiscal. Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel presented the budget today prioritising infrastructure development and tourism sector. The government has allotted Rs 13.45 billion as recurrent expenditure and Rs 18.57 billion as capital expenditure. With high priority to commercialise agriculture sector in the province, the government has said it will address the unemployment problem through agriculture. The budget also mentions completing Gautam Buddha International Airport in the next fiscal. Province 5 government had presented a budget of Rs 28.9 billion for the ongoing fiscal.

Minister of Economic Affairs of Karnali Province Prakash Jwala unveiled a budget worth Rs 34.35 billion for the next fiscal giving priority to agriculture, tourism and infrastructure sectors. The government aims to utilise Rs 13.05 billion as recurrent expenditure and has earmarked Rs 21.29 billion for capital expenditure. With the announcement of setting up Karnali Infrastructure Development Authority, the provincial government has allocated Rs 1.2 billion for the infrastructure sector. The government had presented a budget of Rs 28.28 billion for this fiscal.

Sudurpashchim Pradesh has tabled a budget of Rs 28.16 billion for the next fiscal.  The budget was tabled by Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Jhapat Bohara, aiming to utilise Rs 12.57 billion as recurrent expenditure and Rs 13.06 billion as capital expenditure. The Sudurpashchim Pradesh has given high priority to agriculture, roads, drinking water, irrigation, infrastructure and energy. The budget has allocated Rs 5 million each to every local unit in the province in a bid to promote a model agriculture village in every province. Sudurpashchim Pradesh had tabled Rs 25.6 billion budget for the ongoing fiscal.

The Nepali Congress has said that budgets presented by provincial governments were distributive in nature and had only given continuity to programmes and policies of the previous years. (With inputs from THT correspondents in Butwal, Biratnagar, Surkhet, Pokhara and Janakpurdham)