The House of Representatives (HoR) Sunday passed a Advance Expenditure Bill for fiscal year 2006/07, allowing the government to use 33 percent of the proposed expenditure until the House approves the budget.

Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Subhash Chandra Nembwang, approved the bill.

This is the first time after the reinstatement of HoR that a bill has turned into an Act by the approval of Speaker as per Rule 135 of the new regulations of HoR. Earlier, the King used to put the royal seal on bills passed by the HoR.

The HoR unanimously passed the Advance Expenditure Bill, 2006, after the Minister of Finance Dr Ram Sharan Mahat proposed the House do so.

Earlier, while answering the questions of lawmakers on the budget, Dr Mahat said that the budget had been prepared on the premise that the conflict would be resolved through dialogue and that there would be place for revival of the economy.

Dr Mahat said that after accepting the suggestions of parliamentarians, the government had decided to increase monthly allowance for martyrs’ families to Rs 5,000 from the budgetary announcement of Rs 3,000.

Defending the budgetary policy, Dr Mahat said the budget had a strong vision for a peaceful and prosperous Nepal.

He also assured the lawmakers that the government was committed not to allow regression to rear its head again.

Dr Mahat also refuted the allegation that the budget had ignored development activities in the Terai and clarified that it was due to geographical reasons that the budget for hills had been more.