BAGMATI, March 22: The spending capacity of Bagmati Province has been dismal this Fiscal Year (FY) 2024/25. The provincial government has been able to spend only about 25.62 percent of the total budget from Shrawan to Falgun (mid-July to mid-March) of the current FY.
The provincial government had introduced a budget of Rs 64.05 billion, of which only Rs 10.05 billion has been spent in the last eight months, according to Indra Raj Sanjyal, Information Officer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning. The expenses include 35.22 percent of current expenditure and 19.94 percent of capital expenditure.
Of the allocated budget, the Office of the Provincial Chief Attorney has spent the most at 47.69 percent, followed by the Provincial Assembly Secretariat at 38.22 percent, while the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Cooperatives has recorded the lowest expenditure at only 9.79 percent.
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Furthermore, revenue collection of Bagmati Province has been declining every year. In the eight months of the current FY, the Bagmati government has been able to collect only 38.13 percent of the targeted revenue.
The provincial government had set a target of collecting Rs 29.55 billion from revenue sharing in the current FY, but only 47.03 percent of the target, or Rs 13.90 billion, was collected during that period. Similarly, while it was estimated that Rs 15.57 billion would be received as a grant from the federal government, 52.58 percent of the target, or Rs 8.18 billion 9.964 million, was received in the first eight months of the current FY.
The provincial government had a target of collecting Rs 4.53 billion from internal sources, but only 52.41 percent of the target, or Rs 2.37 billion, was collected during the corresponding period, said Information Officer Sanjyal.
Earlier, in the previous FY, Bagmati Province's revenue collection fell short by Rs 9.31 billion. Against the target of collecting Rs 48.25 billion in revenue in FY 2023/24, it was able to collect only Rs 39.22 billion from all revenue headings.
In FY 2022/23, the Bagmati provincial government collected 17 percent less revenue than it had estimated.
Hari Prasad Upadhyay, Chief of the Bagmati Provincial Treasury and Controller of Accounts Office, Hetauda, said that revenue has decreased due to the decline in collections from value-added tax, income tax, natural resource extraction fees, land revenue, etc., distributed from the federal and local levels, as well as the federal government withdrawing some projects due to the economic recession.