Kathmandu, August 17. The government has proposed a legal provision to transfer the funds to another approved program if it is confirmed that the funds are not spent or will not be spent on any program mentioned in the annual budget. Through the bill to amend the Financial Procedures and Financial Responsibility Act, the government has proposed to regulate the transfer of funds and resources in the legislative law itself.
In the bill registered by Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel in the House of Representatives on Friday, by adding Section 20 (4A) of the original Act, provisions related to program amendment have been proposed. If a program cannot be implemented, it is proposed that the funds of such program can be spent on other activities within the approved program.
It is stated in the proposed bill, "If there is a situation where a program under the approved budget and program cannot be implemented or if the funds allocated to such a program have to be spent on any other activity within the approved program, the Ministry of Finance can revise the program on the recommendation of the relevant ministry."
The government has also proposed to change the arrangement that the allocated funds and programs should be submitted to the Ministry of Finance by the end of March if they are not spent even in the second quarter of the financial year. If such amount is not spent by 15th of January or if it is not possible to spend it, it is proposed in the bill that it should be surrendered by 5th of February. It has been proposed that if the amount is not spent by the end of February, the Ministry of Finance can withhold and surrender it.
In the bill, the government has proposed to change the time of policy and program submission and pre-budget discussion. Due to lack of time to cover the suggestions received from the short time discussion in the Parliament, the existing law was amended for the budget schedule change. Similarly, a proposal has been made in the bill to manage the financial obligations of the government from public bodies outside the budget system. The bill has also proposed some amendments in the current arrangement of Beruju Fasrot.
In the bill, it is also proposed to change the medium-term expenditure structure and the timing of the annual budget formulation. It has been proposed to give time till the end of January for the arrangement to be completed by the 15th of January of the current year. Similarly, it is proposed to fix the time of submission of the report of the resource monitoring committee. There is a proposal in the bill to submit such a report to the finance minister by February 7.
It is also proposed to change the time when the principles and priorities of the budget (prebudget) should be discussed 15 days before the submission of the appropriation bill (budget) to the parliament. At least three months before such a time, the proposal for pre-budget discussion has been made in the bill.
According to the constitutional deadline to submit the budget on May 15, the pre-budget discussion will be held in the parliament at least before February 15. This arrangement has been implemented even during the current year's budget formulation.
There is also a proposal to change the deadline for sending suggestions after the theoretical discussion in the parliament. It has been proposed to amend the existing system of sending suggestions within seven days of the end of the discussion to send them within 15th of Chait month. An amendment has also been proposed in Section 12 of the original Act so that additional financial obligations cannot be created from outside the budget system without the consent of the Ministry of Finance.
Proposal of beruju lagat katta
Similarly, a proposal has been made in the bill to deduct the illegal expenditure pointed out in the report of the Auditor General's Office without the need for discussion in the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives. It is proposed in the bill that information about such deductions should also be given to the Accounts Committee. The relevant account responsible officer should also be informed about the deduction. This provision has been proposed as a new addition to the previous Act.
In order to make a policy leap in the annual budget formulation process, the then government recommended an ordinance on 4th March 2080. The ordinance was issued and the schedule of the pre-budget discussion was also modified. According to the ordinance, the pre-budget was discussed for the first time three months before the submission of the budget in the parliament. Ordinance replacement bill was not passed.
The government decided to withdraw the bill on March 22 while it was under consideration in the House of Representatives. After withdrawing the bill, the government re-registered the bill four months later. Section 40 of the original Act has been proposed to be amended in the new bill. Which was not brought for amendment in the previous bill.
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