KATHMANDU: The utilization of the development budget has been notably low until the end of the third quarter of the fiscal year 2080-81.

According to the Office of the Auditor General, only 32.24 percent of the allocated expenditure has been utilized until the end of Chaitra (mid-April).

For the current fiscal year, a total budget of Rs. 302.07 billion was allocated for capital expenditure; however, only Rs. 97.37 billion has been spent so far.

Out of the total budget allocation of Rs. 1751.31 billion, only Rs. 909.39 billion or 51.93 percent has been utilized.

Under the current expenditure headings, Rs. 1141.78 billion has been allocated.

However, only 56.41 percent of the total budget expenditure, equivalent to Rs. 644 billion, has been incurred until the end of the ninth month of the current fiscal year.

In addition to budget expenditure, the situation of revenue collection is also weak.

Although the government has set a revenue collection target of Rs. 1472 billion for the current fiscal year, only 52.05 percent of the target has been achieved so far, with revenue collection amounting to Rs. 773 billion in the first three quarters.