Kathmandu: Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle is set to unveil Nepal’s budget for the fiscal year 2026/27 in Parliament at 4 pm today, marking the first budget presentation under the government led by Balen Shah.
Under Nepal’s constitution, the national budget must be presented every year on Jestha 15 of the Nepali calendar.
The new government has attracted significant public attention, with many expecting it to introduce a major policy shift capable of reviving and accelerating Nepal’s struggling economy.
Alongside the anticipation surrounding the budget, an old public misconception has resurfaced once again — the belief that finance ministers receive special payments for delivering the annual budget speech.
Former finance ministers, however, say the rumour is completely false.
According to them, finance ministers receive no additional compensation for presenting the national budget beyond their regular government salary and allowances as cabinet ministers.
Former finance minister Prakash Sharan Mahat said the claim has no basis in reality.
“A finance minister does not receive a separate payment for delivering the budget speech. I have presented the budget myself — if such payments existed, I would have received them,” Mahat said. “I am not even aware of any such provision. If it existed, officials at the Finance Ministry would certainly have informed me.”
Another former finance minister, Shankar Koirala, said he too had heard the rumour before taking office, but discovered the truth after presenting the budget himself.
“There has long been a rumour in Nepal that finance ministers are paid extra for the budget speech. I had heard it too,” Koirala said. “But to my knowledge, no finance minister in Nepal has ever received money for presenting the budget. I delivered the budget myself — if there were such payments, I would have received them as well.”
Veteran former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat, who has presented multiple national budgets, had earlier told Clickmandu that misunderstanding persists despite repeated clarifications.
“I have said many times that finance ministers do not receive money for delivering the budget speech,” he said. “Presenting the budget is part of the finance minister’s official duty. Ministers only receive their standard salary and allowances.”
Former finance minister Surendra Pandey, who presented two national budgets during his tenure, also dismissed the claim as baseless.
“The rumour that finance ministers are paid for the budget speech is entirely unfounded,” Pandey said. “People should not believe such misinformation.”
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