2021-22 fiscal budget through ordinance

KATHMANDU: The government is mulling introducing the annual budget through an ordinance. As President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, on recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, dissolved the Parliament on Friday midnight, the only option to bring the budget for the next fiscal year is through ordinance, as per experts.

The federal budget for the next fiscal year must be presented on May 29. Oli was re-appointed prime minister on May 14 as the leader of the largest party–CPN-UML–as per Article 76 (3) of the Constitution and therefore must seek a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives within 30 days.

The CPN-UML of Prime Minister Oli is the largest party with 121 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives. At present 136 votes are needed to form a majority government.

However, the budget brought through ordinance has a large number of limitations to ensure social welfare and economic development of the country.

While the budget through ordinance cannot alter the rate of taxation, the programs such as launching new projects and revising the social security schemes, it should basically focus on managing recurrent expenditures, including sources to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as per experts.