The House of Representatives on Tuesday endorsed the government’s annual budget for the fiscal year 2025–26 through a majority vote, clearing the way for the implementation of Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel’s Rs1.96 trillion spending plan.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire, who chaired the meeting, declared that the Appropriation Bill, tabled by Minister Paudel on May 29, had been passed by a majority of lawmakers.

Prior to the endorsement, lawmakers had completed clause-by-clause deliberations on the bill and submitted a series of proposals seeking to reduce allocations to various ministries. However, all expenditure-cut motions were defeated by majority vote.

A total of 22 lawmakers, including Amresh Kumar Singh, Prabhu Sah, Durga Rai, Prem Suwal, Amarnath Modi, Janardan Sharma, Bimala Subedi, Rekha Sharma, Chitra Bahadur KC, Shakti Basnet, Hitraj Pandey, Ram Kumar Rai, Devendra Paudel, Madhav Sapkota, Ranendra Barali, Gyanu Basnet Subedi, Urmila Majhi, Hit Bahadur Tamang, Ammar Bahadur Thapa, Chiring Lhamu Lama (Tamang), Ganga Karki, and Lekhnath Dahal, had submitted the cost-cutting proposals.

The budget, presented during a joint session of the Federal Parliament, outlines total spending of Rs1.964 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins in mid-July. The government’s spending plan represents a significant increase over the previous fiscal year’s allocation.

During earlier deliberations, the Prime Minister and ministers concerned had responded to queries raised by lawmakers regarding the allocations and priorities in the Appropriation Bill.