BAJURA, March 23: Bajura district has spent the least amount of budget allocated by the provincial government compared to other districts in the Sudurpashchim province. According to province officials, the district has managed to spend only 23% of the allocated recurrent expenditure and 6% of the allocated capital expenditure.
According to Dhan Bahadur Thapa, the financial comptroller of the province, the district has lagged behind in spending both the recurrent and capital budget compared to other local units in the province.
Karnali Province spends only 31pc of budget in 10 months
The district has spent only Rs 15 million from the allocated capital budget of Rs 279 million so far. Out of Rs 509 million allocated for recurrent expenditure, the district has managed to spend only Rs 116 million so far.
Likewise, the district has managed to spend Rs 29 million out of Rs 75 million provided by the federal government. According to district officials, the reason behind the low spending is because of delay in getting approval for projects in the district.
According to province officials, the local units have spent 66% of the capital budget and 54% of recurrent expenditure so far. The provincial government has allocated Rs 4.5 billion for recurrent expenditure for local units of which Rs 2.4 billion has been spent.
According to Thapa, the current budget spending is low for now because the work compensation can be provided only after the development projects are completed. After the projects are completed and the compensation is provided, the spending of the capital budget will increase accordingly. The impact of the coronavirus has also added further challenges in the utilization of the capital budget in the district.
