The budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year has been reduced by about Ngultrum 26 million

…The revised budget is now 97.63 lakh crore

Thupten Sangpo

The National Assembly passed the Budget Appropriation Bill for the fiscal year 2024-25 with 42 votes in favor and 3 abstentions. On July 4, out of the 45 members present at the meeting, 42 voted in favor and 3 abstentions.

The House reconsidered the bill after receiving three recommendations from the National Commission (NC).

The budget for the 2024-25 financial year was revised to N97.63 billion after the cancellation of the capital budget of N25.99 billion proposed by Green Bhutan Corporation Limited.

In the budget report, the government allocated N97.65 billion for the current fiscal year.

Economic and Fiscal Committee (EFC) Chairperson Rinchen Wangdi MP presented the three recommendations of the National Commission.

First, the committee recommends that the government deploy adequate human resources at all levels and establish effective mechanisms to ensure optimal utilization of the capital budget or consider realigning the budget according to the execution capacity of the budgetary institutions.

NC found that 20% of its annual capital budget was underutilized.

Secondly, the Commission recommends that the government increase recurrent budgetary allocations to both Houses of Parliament to enable MPs to perform their duties and protect national legislation and policy making from undue external influence.

The National Council recommended an allocation of N27.8 million for the National Assembly and N23.69 million for the National Council.

The recurrent budget of the National Assembly was revised from Nu150.57 million to Nu178.37 million, and that of the National Council from Nu98.91 million to Nu122.6 million.

Third, governments should develop plans to respond to economic shocks and manage their finances properly, including saving during economic booms, adjusting debt strategies to reduce currency risks, and developing policies to respond quickly to economic crises.

Rinchen Wangdi said the first and third recommendations were consistent with those of the National Assembly and required no further discussion.

On the second suggestion, the Chairperson suggested that the Ministry of Finance could look into it during the mid-term budget review.

The House of Representatives on June 25 adopted 16 recommendations of the budget submitted by the EFC.

The Budget Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2024-25 and the Supplementary Budget Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2023-24 will be submitted for Royal Assent in accordance with the rule of law.