The estimate of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2082/083 has been submitted to the joint meeting of the Federal Parliament on 15th May, the day fixed by the constitution. This time, a different view than other years, the economic survey was also submitted on the same day. This time too, since the agenda for submitting the economic survey was published two days in advance, it was not possible to submit the economic survey after the proceedings of the Parliament were disrupted by the 'Visit Visa Scandal'.

There was a public expectation that the budget would come in a different way than following the regular tradition from the past . But even this budget could not show much difference from the formality of the past . All budget speeches and plans of the government are good. But only if its implementation is good, the goals and objectives pursued by the budget will be fulfilled . The main thing is the implementation side . 

When talking about the size of the next year's budget, many call the budget of 19 trillion 64 billion a very ambitious number. Based on the needs of the country, this number is not big. But it is ambitious when it comes to government spending power. The current year's budget of 18 trillion 60 billion has been spent till June 16, 12 trillion 29 billion ie 66 percent. On the capital side, out of 3 trillion 52 billion, 1 trillion 30 billion, that is, only 37 percent of the budget has been spent. 4 trillion 7 billion has been allocated for capital for the coming year. This is a very low score based on the requirements of the state . But it seems to be shrinking due to lack of resources on one hand and ability to spend on the other. 

The size of Nepal's economy is underestimated by about 40 percent. If the informal sector can be included in the formal sector, the revenue can be increased and the capital expenditure can be doubled at least . Government capacity is very low . Improvements should be made towards that. 

The estimate of next year's revenue is 13 trillion 15 billion for the federal government out of 14 trillion 80 billion. It seems that 11 trillion 28 billion of the revised revenue target of 12 trillion 67 billion for the current year will be collected in the federal reserve fund. Currently, the revenue collection has been 9 trillion 70 billion till 16th of May. This is only 68 percent compared to the initial target . Compared to the initial total revenue target of 14 trillion 19 billion, the next year's revenue target is estimated to increase by 15 percent. If most of the informal economy can be formalized as mentioned above, the revenue can increase further . According to which, if there is a commitment in revenue collection, it can be at least 16 billion annually. Revenue growth is the basis for increasing capital expenditure. A solid plan for informal sector management was not seen in this budget. 

In the budget, a deficit of 5 trillion 95 billion has been seen from revenue and subsidy sources. There is a plan to raise 2 trillion 33 billion foreign debt and 3 trillion 62 billion domestic debt to cover the deficit. Foreign loans are obtained based on the ability to spend and the progress of projects. The burden of internal debt is increasing . Public debt appears to be 44 percent of GDP. It is not a matter of concern that the debt has increased. But one should be concerned about its utilization . If the loan amount is spent on production growth, productivity growth, employment and income generation, it should be considered as an achievement. But on the contrary, if it is spent on government office decoration, fuel expenses, purchase of vehicles, maintenance, construction and maintenance of government buildings, one should be worried . Other countries also have high public debt compared to GDP. Such as 119 percent in America, 310 in China, 216 in Japan, 100 in India, 109 percent in Bhutan. Public debt should be spent on development and increasing income and employment. 

In relation to revenue and expenditure, there is a tendency for revenue not to be recovered according to the target in recent years and especially for capital expenditure to be reduced . Many theoretical reasons and problems can be shown behind this . But practically, our revenue administration and development administration are not working as per the target due to the laxness. Based on the experience of working as the head of this line of government revenue departments, the revenue growth rate in 2065/066 was up to 36/37 percent . If we analyze the revenue from 2002/2003, there was no negative growth in other years except for about 5 percent revenue when the economy was relaxed due to the covid-19 . In the last fiscal year, revenue growth has been negative and has not been recovered as per the target . The main reason for the decrease in revenue growth rate is due to lack of political leadership and professional capacity of revenue administration rather than revenue policy and system. This should be noticed and improved.

Every year there is a discussion about the lack of capital expenditure among the government expenditures. Whether or not there will be capital expenditure is known from the project selection and budgeting process. There may be reasons for keeping programs and budgets without prior preparation of development projects, lack of resources for multi-year projects, non-receipt of foreign loan assistance, not getting contracts on time, conflicts with beneficiaries, etc. The main reason is lack of regular monitoring, inspection and facilitation after signing the contract. This budget has given special importance to public expenditure and project management, reducing the number to 4,654 and introducing a policy of not keeping projects worth less than 30 million in the federal government's budget . With this, it seems that the problem of duplication, fragmentation and fragmentation in government spending at the union, state and local levels can be ended to some extent. Despite this, it can be more effective if an intensive monitoring mechanism of the development project is built. There are two examples of this . 

One, when this row was the secretary of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office, the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced the on-site monitoring and inspection of national pride and other major development projects. The team including the Prime Minister carried out on-site monitoring of dozens of projects including Melamchi Water Supply, Chamelia Hydropower, Sikta and Ranijmara Irrigation Project, Upper Tamakoshi, Madhyapahari Lokmarg Eastern Section, Sunkoshi-Marin Project, Sirsia Bridge in Dang, Motorable Bridge in Simkot Hilsa, Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project Kailali and Jhapa, Kulekhani Hydropower Project. When the Prime Minister comes for inspection, it will work even if he walks on the road. While the team with the Prime Minister was traveling by land from Kathmandu to Melamchi, it was found that the work of road cleaning, maintenance, pothole repair was completed in one day. Project staff, builders were present at the project site.

For its continuation, the Nepal government formed a development project inspection and monitoring central team under my coordination. The team visited the districts and conducted interviews, discussions and inspections. Work was done to clear the obstacles in the operation of the project . Looking at the financial year from 2073/074 to 2075/076, the capital expenditure is the highest 80 to 85 percent . The revenue has been recovered 100 percent . This experience shows that a permanent mechanism for the inspection and monitoring of development projects is necessary. Such a mechanism can be 'Development Project Inspection and Monitoring High Commissioner'. Attention should be paid to this. 

Second, the construction of the Auditor General's Office building was contracted for a long period of time and the work did not start . The construction of the building was completed within four years even during the time of Kovid, after this columnist was appointed as the Auditor General in 2074. When it was proposed to lay the foundation stone of that building by the President, it was not accepted by the officials of the President's Office at first . Their complaint was that 'whoever comes with a foundation proposal but the construction is not completed' . After ensuring the completion of the construction, the then President Bidya Devi Bhandari laid the foundation stone and inaugurated the building by her. Every time he visited the President's office, a photo of the building under construction with the progress of the building was shown to the President. This is another example that development projects are completed on time only if the higher government officials are interested.  Talking about the theoretical political side of the

budget, it is mentioned that this budget initially aimed to fulfill the national aspiration of 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali', since the political situation has unexpectedly become unstable in recent years, it has been mentioned that service delivery, good governance and development have been adversely affected. Similarly, it is mentioned that prosperity can be achieved if we can move forward with appropriate policies and political stability, and the government of two big parties has been formed in the alternative of arithmetic available in the parliament and there is no other suitable alternative. Although the budget reviewed the past political situation and its impact, it was not able to determine the appropriate strategy after assessing the future results and the impact of the current political instability. 

We are aware of the current political landscape and how it has evolved. This period is becoming sensitive like the year 2046 and 062/063. Corruption and poor governance have fueled repeated protests in the country. The current political situation is not of a nature to be ignored. The movement of the recent days has been expressed in the form of anger and displeasure towards the governance style of the ruling parties. Problems such as meter interest, microfinance, co-operative victims, corruption scandals and economic-political crimes, middleman tendencies and unbalanced distribution of state resources have taken a political form and people have taken to the streets. The budget is not only an economic and financial tool, it also has political objectives. Such problems should be solved through the policies and programs of the budget.

budget is not just a game of balance of data and addition-subtraction of numbers. It is also a document with the government's commitment to instill enthusiasm and hope in the common people . It draws the attention of the entire political, economic and social sector including industrialists, traders, farmers, students, employees, professionals. The budget should be able to convince the common people. Since the past, the budget has not paid enough attention to the problems of the people and the available resources have not been fairly distributed, and therefore dissatisfaction has arisen among the people. The interest of the general public towards the budget has decreased . People should be able to instill confidence in the budget. The budget has changed the age of receiving social security allowance from 68 to 70 and increased the dearness allowance of employees by 3,000. Both senior citizens and employees will not be happy about this. 

Today's special problem of the country is youth unemployment, poverty and corruption. Youth migration abroad and corruption are linked together . Sometimes there are fake Bhutanese refugee scandals, sometimes visit visa scandals, sometimes gold smuggling scandals. Due to unemployment, the youth is ready to go anywhere and do anything. The distortions and corruption seen in the government system have supported such activities. Therefore, this budget would have been considered excellent if it had been possible to prevent corruption and create an environment that would attract the youth in agriculture, industry, trade and profession in the country with a solid program to ensure good governance . These issues have not been addressed seriously.