Kathmandu. Prior consent of the Ministry of Finance is mandatory if a new four-wheeler is to be purchased from the allocated budget. The ‘Guidelines on Budget Implementation of the Current Fiscal Year’ issued by the Ministry of Finance states that no vehicle can be purchased without prior consent. Prior approval of the ministry is also mandatory for foreign travel.

Only houses with minimum infrastructure and facilities located outside the main commercial center or main roads should be rented only if a government-owned building is not available.

The government bodies will have to use the vacant government buildings with priority for the performance of the offices. It is stated in the guidelines that the rented house should be used wholly for government purposes only.

Maximum austerity should be spent on water, electricity, communication tariff, house rent, fuel, maintenance expenses, expenses of office materials, allowances, training, seminars, service charges, travel expenses and other administrative expenses. The guidelines have made provision that public expenditure should be kept austerity.

A monthly cash plan should be formulated and sent to the Ministry of Finance for the effective utilization of government funds by making the payment system easy and systematic. If the payment of more than one billion rupees is to be made to manage the cash flow, it should be compulsorily informed to the Ministry of Finance within seven days.

Financial risk mitigation measures should be adopted by assessing the financial risks that may arise in course of the implementation of projects and programs.

Finance Secretary Dr Ghanashyam Upadhyay said that efforts should be made to improve capital expenditure by ensuring the effective implementation of big infrastructure projects and developing a risk assessment system and strengthening fiscal risk management.

The guidelines also urged the government to make arrangements to send the problems and reasons for the implementation of the budget to the National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance. The budget implementation will be reviewed in the Finance Ministry every two months.