Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle Defends FY 2026/27 Budget as a Bold Roadmap to Shift from Consumption to Production

Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle declared it a strategic blueprint aimed at reversing Nepal's economic reliance on remittances and imports. Addressing lawmaker queries on the Appropriation Bill, Dr. Wagle rejected claims that the budget is populist or distributive. Instead, he argued it establishes a necessary structural transition toward an investment, innovation, and export-led economy, laying down the groundwork to retain young talent domestically through structural production incentives. To fix chronic capital expenditure bottlenecks, Dr. Wagle highlighted regulatory overhauls in the Financial Procedures Rules, which now grant direct fund-transfer autonomy to line ministries and slash public procurement delays. He firmly stated that performance-backed National Pride Projects will face zero cash constraints. On the fiscal discipline front, the Minister detailed a borrowing plan of Rs. 247 Arba in external debt and Rs. 410 Arba in internal debt, reassuring the market that Nepal's debt-to-GDP matrix remains entirely sustainable.