Nepal, March 19 -- Nepal's formal practice of presenting the principles and priorities of the budget three months before its tabling in Parliament as a mandatory pre-budget practice merits appreciation.

The Financial Procedures & Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2019 stipulates that 15 days before the finance minister submits the budget to the joint session of Parliament, the government must submit the principles of the budget, programmes and details of project priorities included in the appropriation bill to the federal parliament. Unfortunately, the conclusions and suggestions arising from these discussions were not typically integrated into the budget itself. The government's new ordinance requiring this to be done three months prior has ...