The post Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19: Infrastructure Gets Major Push! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Let’s have a glance at some of the key sectors that received major infrastructure push in the new budget:
Energy
With energy sector on top priority, the government allocated Rs 83.39 billion for enhancing the country’s energy infrastructure alone in the coming fiscal.
With a target of equipping all the households with modern energy within three years and further with sufficient energy supply within five years, the government plans to call 2019-2029 as the ‘Energy Decade’.
The budget also envisages construction of multipurpose hydropower projects across all provinces and begin construction of the same within two years period. The government is also planning to construct a 3,000-MW capacitive hydropower project with the combined investment of government, public and remittance funds.
There are also plans to develop a good number of micro-hydro projects and biogas plants to electrify the rural areas of the country.
Transport
Transport is another area that received a major boost in the present budget with an allocation of Rs 109.38 billion.
Some of the high-profile projects include cable car and monorail projects in Kathmandu, construction of the East-west railway line, Kathmandu-Nijgadh Expressway, Postal Highway, Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway and link roads connecting all the districts touching the southern border to the Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway, among others.
The new budget also envisages construction of new airports across the country.
The government has allocated a budget of Rs 1.43 billion for the transportation management system and is also developing relevant government agencies in all the provinces.
Tourism
Tourism is one sector that is of high significance for Nepal. The new budget has Rs 5.20 billion allocated for the overall development of Nepali tourism sector.
While the country reached 1 million target at the end of 2017, the new budget envisages a 2 million annual tourist arrival target by the end of 2020. Strengthening the domestic tourism to drive in more tourist inflow, the government is planning to develop 100 new tourist destinations and diversify tourist services across the country.
The government also has plans to develop the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism by mobilizing the country’s foreign missions. To facilitate ways for tourist arrivals, more number of airports are also being planned at various tourist destinations of the country.
Towards getting academic support, the government is also aiming at the conversion of the Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) into a deemed university.
Other key areas that received due attention for overall infrastructure development include:
- Economic Affairs- Rs 483.14 billion
- General Public Service – Rs 396.74 billion
- Housing & Community Amenities – Rs 66.57 billion
- Public Order & Security – Rs 47.50 billion
- Social Protection – Rs 46.91 billion
- Defense – Rs 44.93 billion
- Environment Protection – Rs 22.72 billion
- Recreation, Culture & Religion – Rs 7.10 billion
Overall, the new budget paid due attention to the infrastructure development across the country as a key to achieve the economic growth.
Next: Budget Gets Mixed Response
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]]>The post Nepal Federal Budget 2018-19: Highlights & Key Announcements appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>In a landmark move, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada presented the country’s Rs 1.31 trillion (Rs 81, 750 crore) budget for the Fiscal Year 2018-19 in the Federal Parliament.
Making a strong pitch for infrastructure development, the new budget by the Oli-led Nepal Government brought some significant changes towards adding more revenue to the government treasury, job creation, tackling inflation and FDI, along with a special focus on strengthening local bodies and domestic industries.
Budget Allocation for FY 2018-19, By Ministry
Here are some of the key budgetary announcements from the Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19:
1) Economic Growth: Through the latest budget FY 2018-19, the Government of Nepal is aiming at an 8 percent economic growth in the next fiscal.
Here it is noteworthy that the economic growth projection for the current fiscal remained at 5 percent in contrast to the government’s expected rate of 7.2 percent.
2) Tax Regime: This time the government is more serious on taxes as evident in the pitch made for revenue collection to the government’s treasury in the budget announced.
According to the Finance Minister, Nepal will now have five income tax slabs.
However, the new budget gave some relaxation to taxpayers by reducing the tax bracket for those earning Rs 3.5-4.5 lakh/annum from 15 percent to 10 percent, subjecting those earning below Rs 3.5 lakh/annum to 1 percent tax.
3) Allocation to Provinces: The new budget laid special focus on strengthening of local bodies in a move towards achieving overall development. For the first time in Nepali annual budget history, the new government allocated separate funds for the development of provinces.
The financial resource allocation will be done in three different forms as grants, conditional grants, and project finance. Besides, separate allocations were also done for special hi-profile projects enhancing transport connectivity.
4) Education: Continuing the past trend, the education sector received the highest budgetary allocation in the Federal Budget for FY’19. In line with the global norms to dedicate 20 percent of a nation’s overall budget to education, the new budget saw the allocation of 10.19 percent (Rs 134.5 billion) of the total budget to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, compared to 10.09 percent of the previous fiscal.
The budget envisages the development of a technical school across all local bodies along with goals to attain free and compulsory school education gradually, access to high-speed Internet across every public school and achieve 100 percent literacy in two years.
5) Creating Jobs: In a move strengthening the country’s employment portfolio, the new budget pitched for creation of more employment opportunities across the country.
According to the Finance Minister, the government is looking at creating around 500,000 jobs in the coming fiscal. This number draws significance in the wake of the current scenario where a large number of Nepali youth are moving abroad for career opportunities.
6) Healthcare: Healthcare is key to any country and Nepal is no exception. Nepali healthcare sector saw an allocation of around Rs 56.41 billion in the new budget for FY 2018-19, up from around Rs 32 billion of the previous fiscal.
Under the development plans, the government plans to ensure free basic health services and setting up health centers with at least one doctor across all local governments.
Expansion of the health insurance program across the nation and free essential medicine are among plans for the government.
7) Luxury Items: The new budget called for a hike on bikes with engines more than 150cc and cars with engines above 2,000 cc. Terming such vehicles as luxury items, the government said such vehicles would have a negative impact on the country’s foreign reserves.
8) Immigration: In a move promoting local talent and wooing its migrant populace, the Federal Budget announced a project loan of up to Rs 1 million for returnee migrants depending on their skill-set. As part of the fiscal budget, another Rs 700,000 has also been allocated to the youth population as a loan supporting their education.
Continued... Infrastructure Gets Major Push!
Download the Full Budget Speech
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