Lumbini Province Revenue Collection Improves by 12% in First 11 Months

Bhairahawa. Internal revenue collection in Lumbini Province has shown improvement in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year. The provincial government has collected Rs 5.14 billion 4 million in internal revenue by Jestha 25. This amount is 12 percent more than in the same period of the last fiscal year.

According to the economic details presented by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning, Dhanendra Karki, in the Provincial Assembly, Rs 26.57 billion 77 million has been deposited in the Provincial Consolidated Fund by the same period. The fund includes grants received from the federal government, revenue sharing, and amounts received from the province's internal sources.

The provincial government has stated that it has spent Rs 17.47 billion 82 million so far in the current fiscal year. This is 44.85 percent of the total allocated budget. Of this expenditure, Rs 10.11 billion 9 million is capital expenditure and Rs 7.36 billion 73 million is current expenditure, the ministry stated.

According to the provincial government, 56.42 percent of the Rs 1.93 billion 23 million provided under financial transfer to local levels has been spent.

The first phase of the Provincial Capital Management and Construction Program, which is a provincial pride project, has been completed. The physical progress of the project has reached 100 percent and the financial progress has reached 95.58 percent. Services have been operating from the completed administrative building since Baisakh 21.

According to Minister Karki, the province's economic growth rate is estimated to be 2.87 percent in the current fiscal year. The provincial government has clarified that the economic growth rate has been affected by the lack of expected growth in the agricultural sector and the slow expansion of the transport, communication, and trade sectors. The province's economic growth rate was 4.27 percent in the previous fiscal year.

The province's gross domestic product is estimated to reach Rs 937 billion in the current fiscal year. Lumbini Province's contribution to the national gross domestic product is projected to be 14.2 percent.

Similarly, electricity access in Lumbini Province is estimated to be 98.6 percent and internet service has been expanded to about 80 percent of households.

The economic details mention that grants for fiscal equalization, conditional grants, special grants, complementary grants, and revenue sharing from the federal government have contributed significantly to the province's income.