Lumbini Province Spends Only 27% of Budget in First Eight Months of Fiscal Year 2082/083

Butwal. The Lumbini Province government has spent only 27% of its total allocated budget in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2082/083. During this period, capital expenditure stood at 25.40% and recurrent expenditure at 31.01%.

According to the Provincial Chief Accountant's Office, out of the NPR 38.91 billion budget allocated for Lumbini Province for the current fiscal year, only NPR 10.75 billion and one lakh has been spent by the end of Falgun. Economic experts consider the 25.40% capital expenditure by the end of Falgun to be as expected.

Out of the NPR 23.47 billion 14 crore 65 lakh capital budget allocated for the current fiscal year, NPR 5.96 billion 29 crore 19 lakh 503 has been spent by the end of Falgun. Similarly, out of the NPR 15.43 billion 5 crore 35 lakh recurrent budget, NPR 4.07 billion 72 crore 53 lakh 636 rupees and 78 paisa has been spent.

Expenditure by Ministry?

According to the report from the Provincial Chief Accountant's Office, the Ministry of Health has the highest capital budget expenditure, while the Ministry of Youth and Sports has the lowest. The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office has spent a total of 20.97% of its budget. Of this, 21.67% was spent on recurrent costs and only 9.9% on capital costs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has spent 21.57% of its budget, with 23.08% spent on recurrent costs and 10.71% on capital costs.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has the lowest expenditure at only 7.95%. This includes 15.20% spent on recurrent costs and 3.30% on capital costs. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, which has the largest budget in the province, spent 28.18% of its budget, according to the report. This includes 31.97% recurrent expenditure and 28.05% capital expenditure.

The Ministry of Cooperative Development and Water Supply has spent 24.17% of its budget, with 40.66% recurrent and 23.37% capital expenditure.

The expenditure of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, and Transport is 18.29%. This includes 35.65% recurrent expenditure and 7.50% capital expenditure. This ministry appears weak in terms of capital expenditure.

Furthermore, the report from the Provincial Chief Accountant's Office mentions that the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation has spent 23.03% of its budget. Of this, 42.59% was spent on recurrent costs and 20.76% on capital costs. The Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management, and Cooperatives has spent 25.52% of its budget, with 26.27% recurrent and 16.45% capital expenditure, according to the Provincial Chief Accountant's Office.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law has spent only 7.68% of its total budget. This includes 13.54% recurrent expenditure and 0.59% capital expenditure. The Ministry of Forest and Environment has spent 27.51% of its budget, with 35.23% recurrent and 16.67% capital expenditure, according to the Provincial Chief Accountant's Office.

The Ministry of Social Development has spent 14.08% of its budget, which includes 16.40% recurrent and 9.76% capital expenditure. The expenditure of the Ministry of Health has reached 48.63%. This includes 38.92% recurrent expenditure and 69.53% capital expenditure.

The Lumbini Provincial Assembly has also spent 31.91% of its budget, with recurrent expenditure at 35.33% and capital expenditure at 5.48%, according to the report.

Reasons for Slow Budget Spending

Experts in the financial sector state that the state of budget spending after eight months is not satisfactory. According to Humraj Bhusal, Chairman of the Economic Research Center Lumbini, the low spending is due to ministries with large budgets, such as Physical Infrastructure and Water Supply, not paying attention to budget implementation from the beginning. He stated that this situation arises from the tendency to delay work until the end of the fiscal year when creating the budget, rather than working in the initial stages of the fiscal year.

According to Bhusal, budget implementation would gain momentum if work proceeded procedurally from the start, but the tendency to rush bill passing in the final months persists.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Panthi, spokesperson for the Lumbini Provincial Government, claimed that budget expenditure appears low because payments for works in major ministries are currently in the process. He expressed confidence that spending would increase in the coming months.

Spokesperson Panthi admitted that there were some problems in the work due to many holidays because of elections and recent events like the 'Jeejee' protests. However, he stated that work will now gain momentum and budget implementation will improve.