Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle has brought a budget of Rs 2.124 trillion for the fiscal year 2083/84 on Friday.
It was was Rs 1.96 trillion in the current fiscal year. The new budget is 25 percent more than the amended budget for the current fiscal year.
Minister Wagle has allocated Rs 1.27 trillion (59.8%) for recurrent expenditure, Rs 431.1 billion (20.3%) for capital expenditure, and Rs 422.64 billion (19.9%) for debt financing.
The budget plans to generate Rs 1.4 trillion through revenues, Rs 61.74 billion through foreign grant and generate the remaining amount of Rs 657.29 billion through foreign loans (Rs 247.28 billion) and domestic borrowing (Rs 410 billion).
Finance Minister Wagle has stated that a comprehensive debate will be held regarding providing government funding for political parties. He stated that a broad political debate would be conducted for providing such funding to national parties.
"We will build a strong foundation of transparency and accountability in the political system. To institutionalize healthy democratic competition, we will conduct a comprehensive political debate on providing government funding to nationally recognized political parties based on the votes they secured in the last general election," he said. He added that the auditing of these funds would be conducted by the Auditor General.
The budget has raised the exemption limit for personal income tax to Rs 1 million. Previously, it was Rs 500,000 rupees. Similarly, the highest personal income tax rate has been lowered to 29 percent. Previously, this rate was 39 percent.
