Ministry of Finance Web URL - https://mof.gov.np/content/1741/budget8384/
Direct PDF Link (in Nepali) - https://giwmscdnone.gov.np/media/pdf_upload/budget%20speech%202083_nz9wmgt.pdf
Finance bill (contains further details) - Pdf Link
Here's the full budget organized by category.
- Total budget: Rs 2,124.34 billion (Rs 21.24 trillion), 25.2% above the current year's revised estimate.
- Split: recurrent Rs 1,270.58 billion (59.8%); capital Rs 431.10 billion (20.3%); financing/debt servicing Rs 422.64 billion (19.9%).
- Targets: 7% economic growth; inflation under 6%.
- Economy framed as standing at a "decisive moment of major economic reform," with the end of political instability cited as the enabling condition.
- Revenue: Rs 1,405.31 billion; foreign grants Rs 61.74 billion; foreign loans Rs 247.28 billion.
- Domestic borrowing: gross Rs 410 billion, less Rs 245.89 billion principal repayment, so net Rs 164.11 billion.
- New instruments: Sovereign Wealth Fund from a slice of forex reserves; a "Matribhumi Fund" for strategic projects (three-month fuel storage, AI factories); diaspora bonds, clean-energy bonds, and an offshore Nepali-rupee bond; hedging service for forex risk on foreign-financed projects; push to exit the FATF grey list and improve sovereign credit rating.
- Personal income tax exemption threshold doubled to Rs 1 million; top personal rate cut by 10 percentage points.
- Customs slabs reduced from 11 tiers to 7; duty cut on 273 raw materials so inputs sit at least one tier below finished goods.
- Excise abolished on 360 goods; scattered levies (road maintenance fee, infrastructure development tax) merged into a green tax.
- 10% VAT discount on digital-payment purchases; automated VAT refunds; invoicing-incentive lottery.
- Capital gains on listed securities treated as final tax.
- Tax dispute settlement scheme (pay assessed tax plus 1%, get penalties/interest waived).
- Excise raised roughly 10% on cigarettes, plus increases on liquor and beer.
- Revenue administration: paperless/faceless/contactless model; AI-based e-assessment; central billing monitoring for businesses with turnover above Rs 100 million; tax audit window set at three years.
- "Investment Express" automatic-route system within three months, linking company/industry registration, financial services, tax, and visa.
- Doubling of the income-tax threshold positioned as middle-class relief and demand stimulus.
- New Limited Liability Partnership law to channel angel investment into VC and private equity.
- FDI reforms: automatic approval, removal of NRB pre-approval for profit repatriation, inclusion of convertible and hybrid instruments; Nepalis allowed to invest abroad more easily.
- Company law amendments (conflict-of-interest disclosure, easier company dissolution); insolvency law amendment; intellectual property law; credit-scoring-based lending; a separate tribunal for commercial disputes.
- 15 existing laws to be repealed via a Some Nepal Acts Amendment Bill.
- Federal ministries already cut from 22 to 18; plan to abolish 31 bodies, merge 6, transfer 6, restructure 18.
- Austerity: cuts to office operating costs, training and equipment budgets, and fund-based perks; projected savings of roughly Rs 20 billion.
- Civil service pay: 10% raise on the starting scale plus a 10% performance incentive allowance (about a 21% net rise), effective Shrawan 1, 2083.
- Governance: conflict-of-interest law to end "policy corruption"; National ID as the base credential for public services; digital time cards; "Hello Sarkar" developed as a citizen-government platform; closure of some foreign missions (Denmark, Brazil, South Africa embassies, and consulates in Chengdu, San Francisco, Visakhapatnam).
- Sovereign AI Compute Centre (the first in the country) in Syuchatar, Kathmandu; thousands of AI processing units bought and offered to startups at subsidized rates, converting hydropower into high-value compute.
- Prestigious fellowships for at least 15 internationally recognized Nepali AI researchers to return.
- IT service exports: 50% income tax exemption; 100% exemption on sweat equity for IT workers; clear legal framework for remote work serving foreign employers.
- Fintech marketplace under NRB supervision; many services bundled into the Nagarik app; single-agency procurement of government software.
- Roads (allocation Rs 286.48 billion incl. urban): about 1,000 km of new blacktopping and 275 bridges next year; East-West Highway four-laning (1,028 km) within five years; Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Expressway (40 bridges, 5.4 km tunnel); Hulaki Highway in three years; Pushpalal Mid-Hill Highway in three years.
- Urban: 12 identity-based towns along the Mid-Hill Highway; integrated waste management and riverfront greenery; Gen-Z protest-damaged government buildings to be rebuilt; Jajarkot/Rukum earthquake reconstruction; 100 homes in Mechinagar under the national housing company.
- Aviation: Tribhuvan International upgrade (Rs 1.53 billion); Nijgadh International construction modality finalized within six months; private-sector partnership for Gautam Buddha and Pokhara airports; effort to exit the EU air safety list.
- Allocation Rs 85.54 billion; Rs 70 billion specifically for transmission lines and substations.
- 1,040 MW added next year (670 MW hydro, 370 MW solar), taking installed capacity to 5,535 MW.
- Nepal Electricity Authority to be split into three companies (generation, transmission, distribution/trade); "take or pay" PPAs; immediate PPAs for sub-10 MW projects.
- Private sector allowed to trade electricity internationally; green hydrogen pilot (2.5 MW plant in Hetauda); 100 MW battery storage in Kathmandu Valley.
- Allocation Rs 46.92 billion (incl. Rs 32.46 billion for chemical fertilizer; target supply 600,000 tons).
- Pilot: up to 40% capital grant for farmers investing up to Rs 20 million, repaid at 10%/year over four years.
- 80% premium subsidy on crop and livestock insurance, with other subsidies phased out.
- Farmer ID cards; land banks at local level for fallow/unused land; "agro-pooling"; warehouse receipt financing; "farmer-centric service system."
- Green urea fertilizer industry in company model with subsidized electricity; domestic vaccine production.
- Land administration: integrated services from 35 municipalities; online property transactions; management of landless Dalit and squatter settlements within the year.
- Allocation Rs 12.31 billion.
- Forests reframed from pure conservation toward green industrialization, jobs, and import substitution; digital single-window for timber permits.
- Amendments to the Environment Protection Act and Forest Act; results-based REDD+ program; carbon-stock and ecosystem-service valuation in budgeting.
- Drone/satellite-based wildfire control; air-quality monitoring stations in major cities.
- Allocation Rs 101.95 billion (incl. Rs 15 billion for health insurance; Rs 13.15 billion for free-care social-security programs).
- Health insurance overhaul targeting 90% coverage within three years; single-payer approach.
- 336 basic hospitals to be completed in three years; provincial teaching-hospital conversions; National Health Accreditation Authority; an FDA-style food and drug administration.
- Free childhood cancer treatment at government hospitals; telemedicine in Karnali/Sudurpaschim; "one citizen, one digital profile"; doubled night-duty allowance for nurses.
- Education allocation Rs 218.30 billion; sports Rs 4.03 billion.
- Shift to a "school-centric system"; national school mapping and infrastructure audit; AI/ed-tech readiness assessment; expanded medical/nursing/IT quotas; demand-based skills system with recognition of prior learning; paid internships.
- Sports: 10 floodlit football stadiums and modern cricket grounds; indoor multipurpose stadiums in eight cities; lifetime free healthcare for international medal winners.
- Allocation Rs 37.17 billion.
- 24-hour clean water via smart distribution within five years; 65% safe-water coverage in three years, 100% in five; deep-boring systems and an arsenic-free Terai campaign; Kathmandu Valley water bodies merged into a single structure.
- Social security allocation Rs 120 billion.
- "Those who can, give it up; connect those who cannot" campaign for voluntary surrender of allowances by the well-off.
- Dalit child nutrition allowance doubled to Rs 1,000/month; nutrition allowance continued for children in 25 districts of Madhes, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim.
- Women/children/gender minorities allocation Rs 2.27 billion; gig workers brought under social security; integrated gender-violence prevention bill; goal to declare Nepal free of street children; autism residential model schools; disability rehabilitation centers in all provinces.
- Allocation Rs 3.63 billion.
- Mandatory labor registry for workers and employers; written contracts, minimum wage, insurance, bank-paid wages; wage theft and labor exploitation treated as economic crime; labor tribunal by Poush-end.
- "Remittance-Investment Matching Fund"; returnee migrant program; skill-before-departure rule; zero-cost migration promotion; remittance-receipt lottery.
- Industry/commerce/supply allocation Rs 8.31 billion.
- Employment-linked production zones; "Special Economic Administration Zone" with single-window decisions; electricity tariff relief for manufacturing; business revival loans; boiler conversion to electric/bio-briquette.
- Mining: license review; geological lab capacity; mines and minerals authority; commercial petroleum production in Dailekh.
- Commerce: trade and logistics master plan; integrated check posts (Bhairahawa, Chandani Dodhara); export strategy for carpets, yarn, garments, cement; anti-syndicate and anti-cartel measures.
- Science/tech/innovation allocation Rs 4 billion, plus Rs 500 million for a Nepal Enterprise Facility platform.
- Profit-linked tax relief, priority public procurement, digital registration; financing beyond debt (early-stage grants, concessional loans, growth capital); co-investment with private sector and NRNs.
- Minimum 1% of capital expenditure earmarked for R&D; Sagarmatha base-camp observatory for astro-tourism.
- Tourism/culture allocation Rs 7.34 billion; civil aviation Rs 2.93 billion.
- Visit Nepal 2085 and Nepal Arogya Year 2027; "wellness tourism" branding; physical/financial incentives for high-value resorts and hotels.
- Heritage: Lumbini (Rs 830 million), Tilaurakot/Janakpur/Gokarneshwar World Heritage nominations; Mustang/Manang monastery conservation; Janakpur as a wedding destination; Great Himalayan Trail and new trekking routes.
- Amendments to banking and banking-offence laws; National Asset Management Company by Poush-end for bad loans; peer-to-peer lending with regulation.
- Insurance: third-party cover raised to Rs 1 million; mandatory accident/critical-illness/transport insurance; Nepal Re leading reinsurance; mandatory building insurance at map-approval stage.
- Securities: NEPSE restructuring; phased intraday, short-selling, derivatives; zero tolerance for insider trading; Global Depository Receipts for listed firms; trustee bill.
- Cooperatives: stronger national regulatory authority; integrated depositor protection fund for troubled cooperatives.
- Electronic court management; free legal aid in remote areas; completion of transitional justice; review of the 2075 National Security Policy.
- Nepal Army housing (Rs 2 billion); Armed Police Force developed as a dedicated border-security force; prison reform toward open-prison model; police use of forensics and AI.
- Total to provinces and local levels projected above Rs 600 billion (including revenue sharing of about Rs 175 billion).
- Fiscal equalization grants: provinces Rs 61.50 billion, local levels Rs 90.20 billion; plus matching, special, and conditional grants.
- Review of overlapping functions and double taxation across the three tiers; a Governance Innovation Challenge Fund.
- "Soft power" diplomacy leveraging Buddha's birthplace, Sagarmata, Himalayas, yoga/meditation, and peacekeeping.
- Constitutional amendment on Non-Resident Nepali citizenship under the slogan "Once a Nepali, always a Nepali"; voting-rights infrastructure for the diaspora; visa-system overhaul via a new immigration bill.
The following things stand out for me:
Our income tax bracket previously looked like this
I'm not sure how the bands will shift with the new budget.
Big if implemented correctly: Sweat equity received by IT-sector workers was already implemented in previous year 2082/2083 budget. The 100% tax exemption is new in 2083/2084 budget. How it will be implemented is unclear, but if someone receives stock options, these might be 100% tax exempt. That's pretty good.
Sovereign AI Compute Centre is new and is the most strategically interesting line in the budget. The logic connects two things Nepal has previously treated separately: large seasonal hydropower surplus, and a digital-economy ambition. Until now the surplus-energy story was almost entirely about exporting power to India and Bangladesh. Reframing it as "convert clean hydropower into high-value AI compute" is a domestic value-add pivot, and pairing it with fellowships to bring back at least 15 Nepali AI researchers is an explicit reverse-brain-drain play. Whether it materializes is the open question; we has a long record of announcing flagship tech projects that stall.
Fintech marketplace under NRB is an escalation rather than a debut. NRB has spent recent years building the National Payment Switch, QR interoperability, and payment-aggregator licensing. A formally sanctioned "fintech marketplace" is the next regulatory step up from that base, not a from-scratch idea. Will this open up access to newer fintech companies? We will have to see. I believe I've heard stories that many access to payment integration with banks etc is currently gated to very few players.
Nagarik app is continuation, not new. The app already exists and already bundles a wide range of government services. "Many government services bundled into the Nagarik app" describes expanding an existing platform.
Nepal Telecom divestment is the least novel of the four, despite sounding bold. The government owns 91.49% of Nepal Telecom (NDCL), the public 8.48%, and Citizens Investment Trust 0.03%. The "retain 66%" target is essentially a revival of a long-stalled plan: back in 2019 the government already announced bringing its stake down to 66%. And the immediately preceding FY 2082/83 budget under Bishnu Paudel announced increasing public ownership to 30% (government down to ~70%), after earlier FY 2078/79 plans for 22% and then 25% that never materialized. So the 66% figure is not a fresh decision; what is new is earmarking the sale proceeds specifically for the "tech hub" build-out rather than treating it as generic divestment. Given the repeated failures to execute since 2019, the Poush-end deadline is the part to be skeptical of.