NPC launches public investment management action plan

Kathmandu: A five-year action plan has been brought to make effective government spending.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) introduced the public investment management action plan (2081/82-2085/86) in a bid to ensure effectiveness in project spending to be made as per the concept of government, public corporation and public-private investment.

The action plan was endorsed by the NPC’s meeting on April 23.

Information officer at NPC, Dr Divakar Luintel, informed that it was brought after realizing the need for a long-term strategy to give a pace to the development projects, spur capital spending and assure the effectiveness of public investment.

At a time when a huge chunk of the budget on infrastructure construction is left unspent by all three tiers of government, the action plan is expected to eliminate nagging problems in this sector.

As the development projects are not completed in time, both the time and cost soar, which ultimately dents the state’s coffers and image, thereby keeping citizens at the receiving end.

To wipe out such upsetting problems, the action plan has set seven goals.

As per the plan, regular and transparent central monitoring will be in place to manage well the capital project portfolio, while the national project bank will be reformed in a phase-wise manner.

The electronic public procurement system will be improved so that public procurement will be made more transparent and effective. The public structures and infrastructures will be renovated regularly, for which a directive will be made.

The chief of the project is assigned responsibility.

Wiping out doubling in the development project is another goal of the action plan. There is no integrated data and details on the projects and spending on them by the three-tier government.

In response to the criticism that the government failed to show efficiency in the selection of projects and programmes in the annual budget, the action plan has emphasized adequate preparation of the projects so that they would get budget, while those unviable would be ditched.