KATHMANDU, April 29: National Planning Commission (NPC) has approved Concept Paper of 15th periodic plan (2019/20-2023/24).
A meeting of the commission, chaired by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, approved the concept paper on Sunday. The concept paper will now be tabled in the next cabinet meeting for final approval, according to a press release issued by the NPC.
The NPC will devise five-year plan based on the concept paper. Fiscal plans and policies will also be prepared in line with the plan.
It may take few more months to prepare detailed result-oriented planning. But breakdown of plans and target indicators in different sectors will be inserted into the government’s policy and programs and budget for the upcoming fiscal year, according to NPC officials.
The government is preparing its policy and programs for Fiscal Year 2019/20 to be tabled in the parliament later this week. The government will table the budget for the next fiscal year on May 29.
NPC member Min Bahadur Shahi said the periodic plan would be endorsed by the cabinet. “The annual target figures set in the concept paper will be put in the policy and programs and the upcoming budget that the government is working on,” he said, adding: “Unlike in the past, we will also calculate the cost of the plans as well as an estimation of the resources available as well as the resources gap.”
The concept paper has also reviewed progress of the 14th plan and some of the indicators show that the results are in line with the periodic targets. But progresses made in infrastructure sector are lower than the targets.
Over the first two years of the three-year plan (FY2016/17 to FY2018/19), indicators like agriculture, social development, poverty reduction, access to drinking water, and average economic growth posted fair progress. However, figures of physical infrastructure are still bleak.