Opinion | Budget 2026-27: Audacious intent, uncertain delivery
Summary
Nepal's 2026-27 budget, the largest in its history, proposes ambitious reforms including tax reductions and technology sector growth, but faces challenges in fiscal honesty, foreign investment amid FATF grey listing, and execution capacity.
Key Points
- Nepal's 2026-27 budget is the largest ever at Rs2.124 trillion with ambitious reforms including tax rate reductions and a sovereign data centre.
- The budget features politically savvy communication but conceals increased capital gains tax rates in subsidiary legislation.
- Fiscal challenges include insufficient revenue collection, high recurrent spending, and low capital expenditure with poor project implementation capacity.
- The tech sector ambitions face obstacles like brain drain, lack of infrastructure, regulatory gaps, and Nepal's FATF grey listing deterring investors.
