KATHMANDU, Aug 2: The government is found to have carried out budget transfer rampantly in the last two months of the last fiscal year 2023/24.

The records with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) show that the government transferred a budget of around Rs 25 billion from the given headings to various other headings to meet its short-term liabilities. During mid-May and mid-July of the last FY, the government conducted a budget transfer of Rs 13.96 billion for development projects while the remaining Rs 11.03 billion for recurrent expenditure.

Budget transfer means moving funds from one assigned program or project to another. Almost every year, government agencies seek to adjust budgetary allocations after being unable to spend the earmarked money.

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) underlines budget transfers as one of the means for increasing cases of irregularities in the bureaucratic system. The Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO) has even barred all three tiers of government from making unnecessary expenses in the last week of the fiscal year.

According to the MoF, it maintained a budget transfer of Rs 3.28 billion to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT), the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice-president and Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation in one month between mid-May and mid-June. In this month, a total of budget transfer of Rs 2.59 billion was made for capital expenditure.  

Likewise, the MoF transferred Rs 7.75 billion under 114 headings in the last month of the FY 2023/24. Under 156 headings of capital expenditure, more than Rs 11.37 billion was transferred for projects with capital of Rs 10 million in this month. The MoPIT was the largest recipient of the budget transfer under capital expenditure during mid-June and mid-July of the last fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the MoF released Rs 24.3 million for the Europe visit by President Ram Chandra Paudel. President Paudel had left for Switzerland and Germany on June 11. Similarly, the MoF provided more than Rs 2 million to the Nepali team led by the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  

The budget transfer included reallocation of Rs 219.6 million to purchase new vehicles for the judges of various courts. Likewise, Rs 24.6 million was transferred to spend on a two-day state visit of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani to Nepal.  

 
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