May 29 : Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada has presented a national budget of Rs 1,474.64 billion for the Fiscal Year 2020/2021 on Thursday (May 28).
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the government highly prioritized the health sector in the budget by allocating Rs 90.69 billion for the upcoming fiscal, up by 32 percent compared to the last one.
“The prime focus of the government in this critical situation stemmed from the government is on the effective control and prevention of coronavirus ,” FM Khatiwada said adding,” In this regard, as much as Rs 9 billion has been earmarked only for the necessary medicines and equipment.”
The government also announced a health insurance coverage up to Rs 5,00,000 for the health workers involved in the treatment of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Moreover, FM Khatiwada said that the budgetary allotment of Rs 7.5 billion has been made to provide health insurance coverage to all Nepali people in three years.
According to him, Gandaki Hospital, Pokhara; Koshi Hospital, Biratnagar; Bheri Hospital, Nepalgunj; Surkher Hospital, Surkhet; and Seti Hospital of Kailali will be converted into medical institutions with specialty services.
Meanwhile, out of the total budget, Rs 948.94 billion has been allocated for recurrent expenditure, Rs 352.91 billion for capital expenditure and Rs 172.79 billion for financing provision.
Likewise, the government has set a revenue collection target of Rs 889.62 billion in the upcoming fiscal Likewise, it seeks foreign grants and loans of Rs 60.52 billion and Rs 299.5 billion respectively. Domestic loans amounting Rs 225 billion is expected to balance the expenditures and sources of the budget.
The government looks to achieve 7 percent economic growth for FY2020/21. Similarly, it has announced to keep inflation rate target at 7 percent for the next fiscal year, an increment of one percentage point from current fiscal year’s target of 6 percent.
As compared to the Rs 1.3 trillion budget of the current fiscal year, the new budget for the upcoming fiscal is less by 4 percent.
