Kathmandu. A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) today directed the bodies concerned to ensure the possible mobilization of the foreign aid through the national system and the government treasury.

A meeting of the Committee on ‘Auditing of Foreign Assistance Receiving to Nepal’ today issued a nine-point directive on the foreign assistance. Committee Chairperson Bharat Bahadur Khadka said that the meeting decided to accept and mobilize only the foreign development assistance.

The meeting has directed the government to make arrangements for the donor side to provide the full details of the foreign aid mobilized from outside the national budget and the government fund system and to prepare and implement a clear policy and working procedure to integrate such assistance into the national system. It has been decided to make arrangements to include and allocate the amount from foreign sources in the budget only after the receipt of foreign assistance is guaranteed.

The meeting also directed the government to minimize the additional burden on the resources of the government due to lack of reimbursement by making arrangements for timely reimbursement of the amount spent from foreign aid. The meeting also directed the government to make arrangements to keep an integrated record of all foreign aid commitments, actual receipt, expenditure, utilization and reimbursement as well as update it in the information system concerned.

Likewise, it has been decided to make the procurement process, auditing and national fund management system transparent and effective and of international standard to enhance the confidence in the government system. The meeting also decided to enhance project management, monitoring and implementation capacity so that the projects run with foreign assistance would be completed within the stipulated time and cost. The meeting has directed the government to adopt a policy to carry out benefit and cost analysis while taking foreign consultancy service and to take such service only when there is a transfer of new technology, skills and knowledge.

The meeting also urged the Finance Ministry to prepare a clear action plan by coordinating with the concerned ministries, Office of Auditor General, Auditor General, provinces and local levels to implement the nine-point directive.

The committee has decided to direct the government to make necessary policy and institutional reforms in order to mobilize the foreign assistance in accordance with the principles of national priority, budget system, public fund, transparency, auditing and result-oriented expenditure.