Nepal’s fiscal decentralisation at a crossroads

Jun 11

Nepal's transition to decentralised governance has placed more responsibility in the hands of provincial and local governments. But fair fiscal management has proved difficult. Structural flaws in funding allocation mechanisms have led to a misallocation of resources and an underspending of local government budgets. Yet increasing reliance on conditional grants relative to fiscal equalisation grants could undermine local government autonomy, presenting issues for the effectiveness of decentralised government.

You can read the article in English at this link: https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/05/30/nepals-fiscal-decentralisation-at-a-crossroads/