House of Representatives passes Appropriation Bill

KATHMANDU: The House of Representatives on Monday passed the Appropriation Bill, 2025, clearing the way for the government to implement the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26.

A majority vote of the House passed the proposal seeking approval of the Bill tabled by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel.

A number of lawmakers, including Dr Amresh Kumar Singh, Prabhu Sah, Durga Rai, Prem Suwal, Amanlal Modi, Janardan Sharma, Bimala Subedi, Rekha Sharma, Chitra Bahadur KC, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Hitraj Pandey, Ram Kumar Rai, Devendra Paudel, Madhav Sapkota, Ranendra Baraili, Gyanu Basnet Subedi, Urmila Majhi, Hit Bahadur Tamang, Ammar Bahadur Thapa, Chhiring Lhamu Lama (Tamang), Narayani Sharma, Ganga Karki and Lekhnath Dahal had submitted proposals seeking cuts in some budget allocations. However, all such proposals were rejected by the majority.

During the session, different ministers responded to questions raised by lawmakers on budget allocations of their respective ministries. Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari; Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak; Minister for Communications and Information Technology Pritvhi Subba Gurung and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh, among others, answered questions raised by lawmakers.

The government had presented the federal budget for 2025/26 during a joint session of Parliament on May 29.