Gyanendra Shahi Questions: Budget Can Reach 50 Trillion, But Where Will the Debt Come From?

May 28, Kathmandu – Member of Parliament Gyanendra Shahi from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has raised concerns about the government presenting a budget with a deficit exceeding NPR 650 billion. Speaking to reporters at the parliamentary premises following Friday’s budget speech, MP Shahi stated that the deficit shown in the budget is not a minor issue. “The NPR 65.729 billion allocated is not sufficient for the budget the government has introduced. This is not a trivial matter,” Shahi said. “Presenting a budget is not a big deal; nowadays, budgets can be brought up to even NPR 50 trillion.”

He also revealed that NPR 247.27 billion of the deficit budget is planned to be financed through foreign loans. “The government intends to bring NPR 24.727 billion in foreign debt, and NPR 41 billion in internal loans, which will be raised domestically,” he explained. Shahi recalled that in previous fiscal years, budgets worth NPR 1.8 to 1.9 trillion were approved, but actual implementation only utilized about NPR 1.3 trillion. He emphasized that the biggest challenge remains figuring out the source of the funds to cover the budget deficit.