Get P1 projects approved by NPC within July 30: FM to secretaries

THE Finance Ministry has directed secretaries of all the ministries to get Priority One (P1) projects approved by the National Planning Commission (NPC) within July 30. During a briefing on budget authorisation on Tuesday, Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala also authorised the ministries to spend money for the implementation of plans and programmes announced in the budget. The ministry has adopted a number of strategies for effective mobilisation of the budget. For P2 and P3 projects, the ministry has introduced a new payment strategy based on the performance. Earlier, the scheme was applicable for P1 projects only. The ministry has also decided to form a committee led by the finance minister to carry out regular monitoring of big projects. “In a bid to regularly monitor the performance of big projects, we have decided to form a separate committee under the finance minister that includes secretaries of the ministries concerned,” said Koirala. “Besides, the NPC will be given more resources and the Prime Minister’s Office will also oversee the performance of P1 projects.” In the budget authorisation bill, the ministry has also directed the secretaries not to transfer the budget allocated for the Far- and Mid- Western regions and for donor-funded projects to other areas. “As we have an ambitious target of attaining a 5.5 percent economic growth and taming inflation to 8 percent, it needs timely and effective budget implementation,” said Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi. The government has also put in place a mandatory provision that bars ministries from making changes in budget programmes after mid- May. But the government has been flexible on adjusting donor-funded projects to the government’s programmes even after July. The Finance Ministry has made it mandatory for all ministries to take its approval to purchase vehicles costing more than Rs 2 million. Also, the procurement or tendering of above Rs 6 million should be done through e-tendering. “The move is to promote e-governance,” Subedi said. To ensure timely implementation of big projects, the ministry has made compulsory the signing of performance review agreement with project heads. A high-level committee under the finance minister will be formed to review status and performance of projects that are allocated over Rs 150 million. The government has also made it mandatory for ministries to award the contracts of approved projects by mid-November. Finance Minister Shankar Koirala (centre) and government officials during a briefing on budget authorisation.