Budget is modest at 28.5 pc of GDP: Finance minister

KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle has said the budget unveiled on Friday for the upcoming fiscal year 2026/27 is modest when measured against the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Minister Dr Wagle unveiled a budget of Rs 2,124.34 billion on Friday. 

Speaking at a press meet at his office today, he said the budget was prepared within realistic fiscal limits and told mediapersons the estimates for income and expenditure for the coming year amount to 28.5% of the estimated GDP.

“In previous years, debates after the announcement of the budget would often centre on whether the proposed budget, irrespective of how good it was, would actually be implemented,” he said. “This time, such concerns have been seldom raised. The budget is not overly ambitious and has been formulated within realistic fiscal limits.”

Dr Wagle recalled his involvement in budget formulation since 2014 and noted that the size of Nepal’s annual budget expanded significantly after the Gorkha earthquake in 2015. “Before the earthquake, Nepal’s budget typically ranged between 25% and 29% of GDP while actual expenditure stood between 22% and 25%,” he said, adding that some years after the quake saw budgets reach as high as 37% of GDP.

The minister emphasised that while the budget is not small, it is deliberately measured to align with the country’s fiscal capacity and implementation realities.

(With inputs from RSS)