Govt spends Rs 235 million for President’s, PM’s foreign trips in 20 months

File: President Bidya Devi Bhandari leaves for a four-day visit to Qatar, on Monday, October 29, 2018.

Kathmandu, October 25

Data records at the Ministry of Finance show that the government spent Rs 235 million on foreign trips of President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in the past 20 months.

Both Bhandari and Oli were elected to the top positions in March 2018 for their second terms. Since then, the government spent Rs 79.3 million for Bhandari’s foreign trips and Rs 153.9 million for Oli’s, according to the ministry. Expenses of Bhandari’s recent trip to Myanmar and Japan and Oli’s ongoing trip to Azerbaijan are not recorded yet.

Likewise, the expenses of Oli’s two journeys to Singapore are also not recorded. The ministry officials claim that the government did not spend a penny during these trips as they were meant for Oli’s treatment.

The government has prepared a guideline for its officials to follow before, during and after the foreign trips. The political officials including the president and the PM, however, do not follow this guideline in general.