Kathmandu, May 16 -- Nepal's Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel is a Red. And as Finance Minister in a coalition led by his Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) he has the unenviable job of saving a country deep in the red.

Despite its impressive name, there is nothing even remotely 'communist' about his party as Poudel works on the upcoming budget. He has warned repeatedly about a massive revenue shortfall with Nepal's expenditure now 25% higher than its income.

The government has already reduced subsidies to local governments due to lack of money, and plans to cut small-scale programs entirely in the budget. But such rollbacks do not even make a dent in reducing the deficit gap.

Revenue has been falling since Covid-19, a...