KATHMANDU, April 15: The government has spent only 27.45 percent of the capital budget allocated for the development projects as of the third-quarter of the current fiscal year that ends on Wednesday.
According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government has spent only Rs 103.78 billion out of the allocated budget of Rs 378.09 billion for 2021/22, which is less than one third of the targeted expenditure under the heading. It means the government needs to spend two-third of the amount in just the next three months if the targeted development activities have to be achieved.
A Disappointing Picture of Capital Expenditure
Like almost every year, the government is likely to speed up spending on development projects only at the last hour of the current fiscal year, which will end in mid-July. The rush for construction work in the last quarter of the fiscal year every time has put to question the quality of the infrastructures built in haste.
The government has been citing the inflow of remittance through informal channels and cash-based transactions by individuals for the persisting liquidity problems with the banks. However, the government itself has been unable to improve efficiency in its working mechanism to spend over Rs 200 billion allocated for capital expenditure, aggravating the situation, according to economists.
Meanwhile, the government has collected 66.85 percent of the targeted revenue worth Rs 1.18 trillion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Of the generated revenue, Rs 727.78 billion was collected in tax, against the targeted amount of Rs 1.067 trillion for this year.
