KATHMANDU, Mar 15: The Ministry of Finance has started the process to withdraw budget from projects that have failed to spend till the end of the eighth month -- by March 13 -- of the current fiscal year.
Budget Division chief under the Ministry Madhu Marasini said that the ministry has written all the ministries to submit the reports of the progres of the projects under them within a week. "After we get their reply, the ministry will decide whether to direct them to surrender funds," he added.
Though, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for the respource mobilization only, the low progress of some of the big ticket projects have defamed the government pressuring the Ministry of Finance to surrender the budget to the projects that have been performing better.
According to the Financial Comptroller General's Office (FCGO), the government has, by Monday, been able to spend only 38.15 percent or Rs 400.16 billion, out of the total budget of Rs 1048.92 billion for the current fiscal year.
Of the total spending, capital spending stands at Rs 67.82 billion or 21.74 percent, which reveals the pathetic condition of the perfromances of the development projects.
The Ministry of Finance has told all the ministries to either expedite the development projects or surrender the budget and the ministry will transfer it to the projects like Rani-Jamara-Kulariya Irrigation projects that is performing better.
According to the ministry, some national pride projects like second International Airport Nijgadh, Expressway are not peforming well. The government had in the budget for the current fiscal year earmarked so me Rs 10 billion for these projects but they have not been able to spend.
The ministry attributes the lowe performance of the national pride projects and othe projects as they have been allocated budget without enough homework, detail project report and study.
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