KATHMANDU: The newly presented budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2026/27 has triggered intense debate in parliament, drawing sharply contrasting views from lawmakers during discussions on the Appropriation Bill on Thursday.

Criticizing the fiscal plan, Nepali Communist Party MP Parshuram Tamang argued that the budget is merely a digital extension of the neoliberal, capitalist, and privatization policies first introduced in 1991.

He also claimed that it favors capitalists and the middle class while deviating from the constitutionally envisioned path toward socialism.

He further warned that continuing these traditional policies would stifle domestic industries and drive youth migration.

Conversely, Rastriya Swatantra Party MP and Finance Committee Chairman Krishna Hari Budhathoki strongly defended the budget as transformative, highlighting its strategic shift away from basic physical infrastructure toward tax reform, the digital economy, Artificial Intelligence and private sector leadership.