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Spending and accounts

How can public money produce completed, usable services and a clear audit trail?

Place-specific evidence and policy choices. A budget promise is not a completed service; older figures retain their reporting period. Proposed options and indicators below are for public discussion, not adopted government commitments.

Contested choiceA regional priority with choices about delivery and fairness

How can public money produce completed, usable services and a clear audit trail?1

Updated 2026-10-13 · Version 1 · Sources · Change history

Question 1 What is the issue, and why does it matter?

In FY 2081/82 the province spent 70.11 per cent of its budget, and 59.85 per cent of that spending came from what the Auditor General calls internal sources. It collected 92.01 per cent of its estimated revenue. The Auditor General found Rs 26.8 million of vehicle tax not shared with local levels as the law requires, 25 provincial bodies that had not deducted advance income tax, and 6 ministries or central bodies without consolidated financial statements.1

The choice is how to improve outcomes in this province, who benefits first, and which institution can act. The figures below belong to the stated reporting period; they are not a real-time measure of today’s conditions.

Question 2 What do current law and policy say?

Federal: Grants on the Fiscal Commission's recommendation (Art. 60). Provincial: The Provincial Assembly must pass the provincial budget and Appropriation Act; provincial civil service and statistics (Sch. 6 items 5, 6, 10). Local: Local budgets and fiscal transfers from the province.23

Federal: Customs, international trade and quarantine (Sch. 5 items 9, 18). Provincial: Intra-province trade; industry and business (Sch. 6 items 11, 20). Local: Local markets and business tax (Sch. 8 items 4, 10).2

Federal: National parks and reserves; tourism policy and fee (Sch. 5 items 9, 27, 29). Provincial: Tax on tourism (Sch. 6 item 4); tourism concurrent (Sch. 7 item 18). Local: Tourism fee (Sch. 8 item 4; Sch. 9 item 6).2

Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.4

Question 3 What is known, uncertain or disputed?

Known

In FY 2081/82 the province spent 70.11 per cent of its budget, and 59.85 per cent of that spending came from what the Auditor General calls internal sources. It collected 92.01 per cent of its estimated revenue. The Auditor General found Rs 26.8 million of vehicle tax not shared with local levels as the law requires, 25 provincial bodies that had not deducted advance income tax, and 6 ministries or central bodies without consolidated financial statements.1

Uncertain

A province-wide number does not identify the worst-served wards or prove the same problem in every municipality. Before spending, establish a current local baseline, service quality, staffing, access barriers and the full operating cost.

Disputed

The policy choice is how to balance universal access, concentrated investment, affordability and fiscal sustainability. The alternatives below are Policy Nepal’s discussion options derived from the problem evidence, not claims that officials or parties have endorsed them.

Questions 4–5 What are the options, and what do they cost and achieve?

Options are listed in no particular order. Policy Nepal does not recommend one; real policies often combine them.

Repair delivery and accounting before expanding projects1

Publish the status of existing commitments, procurements, unpaid liabilities and audit observations, then fund completion of viable works and resolve documentation gaps.

Benefits
  • Makes unfinished work and unresolved observations visible without treating every irregularity as corruption.
Costs
  • Requires technical staff, reliable asset and contract registers, and timely accounts.
Trade-offs
  • Stopping weak projects can be politically difficult; faster spending is not necessarily better value.
What does implementation require?
  • Assign each observation to an accountable office, record recovery or regularisation separately, and publish completion evidence alongside expenditure.

Improve project selection and realistic revenue planning1

Choose projects with designs, land arrangements, procurement readiness and operating budgets; base revenue estimates on collectable resources and legal tax powers.

Benefits
  • Can reduce abandoned assets, overlapping schemes and mid-year funding gaps.
Costs
  • Preparation and appraisal require upfront staff time and funding.
Trade-offs
  • Stronger own revenue must not impose arbitrary fees or exclude poor households from essential services.
What does implementation require?
  • Publish appraisal criteria, approved budgets and quarterly physical progress; compare like-for-like fiscal years and mark partial audits.

Combining options

Start with a verified baseline and maintenance of functioning services, then test additional investment against the same outcomes. Publish who pays for capital costs, recurring costs and any household charges; an unfunded operating plan is not a sustainable solution.

Question 6 Who is responsible?

Shared
Budget and accounts

Federal: Grants on the Fiscal Commission's recommendation (Art. 60). Provincial: The Provincial Assembly must pass the provincial budget and Appropriation Act; provincial civil service and statistics (Sch. 6 items 5, 6, 10). Local: Local budgets and fiscal transfers from the province.23

Shared
Border trade and customs

Federal: Customs, international trade and quarantine (Sch. 5 items 9, 18). Provincial: Intra-province trade; industry and business (Sch. 6 items 11, 20). Local: Local markets and business tax (Sch. 8 items 4, 10).2

Shared
Tourism and protected areas

Federal: National parks and reserves; tourism policy and fee (Sch. 5 items 9, 27, 29). Provincial: Tax on tourism (Sch. 6 item 4); tourism concurrent (Sch. 7 item 18). Local: Tourism fee (Sch. 8 item 4; Sch. 9 item 6).2

Provincial
Chief Minister, Council of Ministers and Provincial Assembly

Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.4

Question 7 What have parties and leaders said and done?

What was said or promised is shown apart from what was recorded as done. Every entry needs a dated source. A missing entry means the position is not established, not that someone opposes or is neutral.

This dossier presents official evidence and research options. It does not assign a position to a chief minister, governor, mayor or political party without a dated source specific to this issue.

Said or promised

Position not established in reviewed sources.

Recorded actions and outcomes

Position not established in reviewed sources.

Question 8 What would progress look like, and when do we check again?

IndicatorLatest official figureOfficial targetRevisit
Completed and functioning projects compared with money spent1 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20
Audit observations resolved by recovery, regularisation or advance settlement1 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20

Sources

Grouped by type of evidence. Government plans show what government intends; they are not proof of results. Party material shows what a party says.

Constitution & law

  1. The Constitution of Nepal (English translation, as amended by the Second Amendment, 2020), Schedules 4–9 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Promulgated 20 September 2015; amended 28 February 2016 and 18 June 2020 (as stated in the document). Schedule 4, list for 'Province No. 7', pp. 190–192; Schedule 5 (federal) items 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 34, pp. 193–195; Schedule 6 (provincial) items 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, pp. 196–197; Schedule 7 (federal–provincial concurrent) items 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 25, pp. 198–199; Schedule 8 (local) items 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, pp. 200–201; Schedule 9 (all three levels) items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, p. 202. Checked 2026-10-11
  2. The Constitution of Nepal (English translation, as amended by the Second Amendment, 2020): Articles 57, 60, 201 and 304 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Promulgated 20 September 2015; amended 2016 and 2020. Art. 57(6), pp. 34–35; Art. 60, pp. 36–37; Art. 201(2)–(4), pp. 102–103; Art. 304(1) and proviso, pp. 179–180. Checked 2026-10-11
  3. Constitution of Nepal, English translation with first and second amendments — Nepal Law Commission. Articles 162, 166, 207–208; Schedules 6–9. English translation; Nepali text authoritative.. Checked 2026-10-13

Official data

  1. महालेखापरीक्षकको त्रिसट्ठीऔँ वार्षिक प्रतिवेदन, २०८३ (63rd Annual Report of the Auditor General, 2083): chapter 'प्रदेश मन्त्रालय तथा निकाय' (provincial ministries and bodies) and start of the local-level chapter — Office of the Auditor General, Nepal, 2083 BS (released 2026-05-18); audits FY 2081/82. Provincial chapter: para 3 (Provincial Consolidated Fund spending by province), printed p. 903; para 4 (vehicle tax not distributed), p. 904; para 11 (provincial laws passed and pending), p. 905; para 13 (fiscal transfers by province) and para 14 (revenue estimate vs receipts), p. 906; para 16 (budget vs spending) and para 18 (spending from internal sources), pp. 907–908; para 21 (duplicate structures) and para 22 (consolidated financial reports not prepared), p. 909; para 26 (irregularities by province), p. 911. Local-level chapter para 3 (local levels per province), pp. 911–912. Checked 2026-10-11
Change history
  1. 2026-10-13 — Expanded the province challenge into the same eight-question format as national issues. (Regional issues deserve equally accessible evidence, options, responsibilities and tracking. Original dates and sources retained; policy options are editorial proposals.)