Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Finance has issued an 81-point guideline to all ministries, departments, and line agencies to ensure effective implementation of the budget for the fiscal year 2023/24.
According to officials of the ministry, the guideline focuses on maximizing resource utilization, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency, while also emphasizing fiscal discipline.
The new guideline requires government institutions to formulate new procedures, directives, and standards within a month and seek approval from the ministry, and update these documents on their websites within a week.
In terms of procurement, government institutions should call for tenders within the first three months of the fiscal year, accompanied by annual procurement plans, detailed designs, and cost estimations. Contract agreements should be completed by mid-November, with work commencing within 15 days of the agreement.
The guideline introduces measures to ensure the timely execution of projects. If the contract agreement is not executed within nine months of resources assurance, the agreement will be automatically scrapped. This provision applies to projects from the previous fiscal year as well. Similarly, projects that have not yet gone into bidding despite nine months of the agreement and have not been proposed for appropriations in the current fiscal year budget will also have their source agreements scrapped.
The guideline clearly states that projects under the Parliamentary Infrastructure Development Program will be implemented by the concerned ministries.
Likewise, it requires construction companies to seek permission in writing from the respective project chief for additional works via an auxiliary contract. However, the use of auxiliary contracts has been discouraged except in essential cases.
According to the guidelines, the National Vigilance Centre will conduct construction quality tests for projects worth over Rs 100 million.
Projects must achieve a minimum of 30% work progress for the release of the second quarterly budget, while they will have to achieve at least 50% work progress for the third quarterly release.
