Capital Budget Implementation Slow Despite Revised Estimates

Kathmandu. Slow implementation of capital budget has continued this year as well. The latest data on the implementation of the budget brought by the government for the financial year 2082-83 shows this situation.

According to the data from the Office of the Comptroller General, only 35.12 percent of the total allocated budget has been spent by Asar 15.

The government had allocated a budget of Rs 4 kharba 7 arba 88 crore 80 lakh for the current financial year. Out of this, Rs 1 kharba 43 arba 23 crore 4 lakh has been spent by this period.

During the same period, the allocated budget for current expenditure and financial management was 81.09 percent and 83.41 percent respectively. In the current year, the government had set a target of spending Rs 11 kharba 80 arba 98 crore for current expenditure and Rs 3 kharba 75 arba 24 crore 20 lakh for financial management.

Out of this, Rs 9 kharba 57 arba 67 crore 89 lakh has been spent on current expenditure and Rs 3 kharba 12 arba 99 crore 23 lakh on financial management.

In the latest estimate, the government has estimated that only Rs 2 kharba 51 arba 39 crore 90 lakh of the total allocated capital budget will be spent. This is 61.63 percent of the total budget. It is Rs 1 kharba 8 arba 16 crore 86 lakh less than the revised estimate made by Asar 15.

The Economic Procedure and Financial Accountability Act has a provision that checks cannot be issued for payment after Asar 25. For this, only 8 working days are left. For this, there is a compulsion to make a payment of Rs 13 arba 52 crore daily.

If the government is to spend according to the allocated budget, there is a compulsion to spend at the rate of Rs 33 arba 8 crore daily.

This time, the government has increased the estimated budget expenditure mentioned in the mid-term review. While the expenditure was estimated to be around 55 percent in the mid-term review, the government increased the revised estimate to 61 percent in the budget of Jestha 15.