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Nepal unveils nearly 10 bln USD annual budget focused on quake reconstruction

Xinhua, May 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nepalese government on Saturday unveiled a record-breaking annual budget of nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars for the next fiscal 2016-17 year.

Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel presented the budget of 1,048,920,000,000 Nepalese rupees (about 10 billion U.S. dollars) for the next fiscal year with emphasis on post-earthquake reconstruction, infrastructure, and social security and enhancing connectivity with both China and India.

The size of the budget has been increased 28 percent compared to last year's 7.6 billion U.S. dollars.

As agitating Madhesi political parties didn't participate during budget presentation at the parliament, it is expected to pose challenge to implementation of budget as political instability has remained as one of the factors for poor budget implementation in the recent years.

However, the budget has introduced many programs that are focused on southern Tarai where agitating parties are based. The budget has been allocated for border area development program focused on 20 districts of southern Tarai and Postal. Roads connecting many districts of Tarai have been allocated significant budget.

With expectation that the post-earthquake reconstruction works would speed up in the next fiscal year, the budget for the reconstruction has been increased by 53 percent to 140 billion rupees.

As Nepal aims to become bridge between India and China, the budget has given high emphasis to develop roads connecting India and China border.

The Nepalese government has announced completing the road connecting Rasuwagadhi. The budget will be allocated to connect another border point Hilsa, Humla, which are in the north districts close to China.

There is also a plan for conducting detailed project report of Rasugadhi-Pokhara-Lumbini within the next two years.

As the country went through difficult period when prolonged blockade was imposed in southern border points recently, creating shortage of fuel and other essentials, the new budget announced constructing storage tanks to sustain the fuel demands for at least 90 days. Currently, Nepal's fuel storage capacity is just for 17 days. Endit