Sources & methodology

How we built this analysis

We believe public-finance information should be accurate, traceable, and understandable by anyone, not just economists. Here is exactly how this analysis was made and how to read it.

Primary source first

Every headline figure, total outlay, recurrent and capital spending, revenue, grants, loans, and the growth and inflation targets, originates from the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance बजेट वक्तव्य (budget speech) for the relevant fiscal year. These are the official documents the Finance Minister presents to the Federal Parliament.

Cross-checked, not copied

Because the official PDFs use legacy Devanagari fonts that are hard to parse, we read the speeches page-by-page and then cross-checked every number against independent reporting and professional budget reviews, The Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times, OnlineKhabar, Annapurna Express, Radio Nepal, Nepal Economic Forum and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). A figure is only published here when the sources agree.

A clear line between fact and opinion

The numbers, priorities, tax measures and programs are reported as stated by the government. The “What works / Where it falls short / How it could improve” sections are clearly labelled as Amarnepal's independent analysis, our editorial judgement, not the Ministry's words.

No invented numbers

Where a specific figure is not disclosed in the published summaries (for example, some per-ministry totals that live only in the budget's red-book annexes), we say so rather than estimate. We would rather show a gap than a guess.

Units & comparability

All amounts are in Nepali rupees (NPR). We convert the budget's अर्ब (arba = billion) and खर्ब (kharba = 100 billion) into a consistent “Rs billion” scale. Note that the FY 2083/84 budget merged several ministries, so its per-ministry figures are not directly comparable line-for-line with earlier years.

Foreign-trade data

Trade headline totals, the deficit and the leading commodities are drawn from the Department of Customs Foreign Trade Statistics for the most recent complete fiscal year, cross-checked against the Nepal Rastra Bank macroeconomic report and the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC). The full 160-plus country matrix uses the most granular all-country dataset the Department of Customs publishes; its exact reporting period is stated on the foreign-trade page itself, because a full-year machine-readable country breakdown is not always released.

Hydropower inventory

Each plant in our hydropower inventory carries its capacity, location, developer and status, sourced from the Nepal Electricity Authority (generation data and the annual A Year in Review), the Department of Electricity Development licence records, the Investment Board Nepal, project-company disclosures and Nepali energy reporting, with each plant carrying its own citations. We record projects that are operational, physically under construction, or formally proposed / licensed / under development. Projects that were only rumoured, or that were licensed and later cancelled, are deliberately excluded. Coordinates marked “approx.” are dam-area or district estimates, not surveyed points.

Full source list

Every source we used

Budget analysis

Foreign trade (imports & exports)

Hydropower

A note on independence. Amarnepal is not affiliated with the Government of Nepal or any political party. This analysis is provided for public understanding and education. For official, legally binding budget documents, always refer to mof.gov.np.