KATHMANDU: In the fiscal year 2080-81 BS (2023-24), the government’s revenue collection and expenditures failed to meet their annual targets.
According to the Office of the Auditor General, revenue collection reached 74.29% of the target, while budget expenditures amounted to 80.44%.
The government had allocated a total budget of Rs 1,751 billion for the fiscal year, but by mid-July, expenditures amounted to Rs 1,408 billion.
Specifically, expenditures under the current heading were Rs 952 billion, which is 83.41% of the allocated budget of Rs 1,141 billion.
Expenditures under the capital heading totaled Rs 1,917 billion, 63.47% of the allocated budget of Rs 3,020 billion.
Under the financial management heading, expenditures reached Rs 2,646 billion, or 86.07% of the allocated budget of Rs 3,074 billion.
The government had set a revenue collection target of Rs 1,472 billion for the fiscal year, but actual collections amounted to Rs 1,093 billion, representing 74.29% of the target.
Revenue collection in the last fiscal year was Rs 944.55 million against a target of Rs 1,305 billion.
For non-tax revenue, the target was Rs 117 billion, but only Rs 114 billion was collected.
Additionally, the government received only 22.48% of the targeted foreign grants (Rs 1,122 billion) against the goal of Rs 4,994 billion.
The government amended the income and expenditure estimates twice but still fell short of the targets.
The income and expenditure estimates were revised during the half-yearly review and again while bringing the budget for the last fiscal year.
On May 28, outgoing Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun presented the second revised estimate of Rs 1,530 billion, which is 87.4% of the original allocation.
Of the total government expenditure, Rs 1,067 billion was expected to be spent on current expenditure, Rs 215 billion on capital expenditure, and Rs 247 billion on financial management.
Following the second revision, the government set a revenue collection target of Rs 1,253 billion for the last fiscal year.
The estimates of revenue and expenditure were reduced in the half-yearly review conducted in February.
Initially, the government brought a budget of Rs 1,751 billion for the fiscal year 2023/24.
The revised estimate through the half-yearly evaluation was Rs 1,530 billion, or 87.38% of the budget.
The revised estimates for expenditures were 88.84% for the current heading, 84.13% for the capital heading, and 87.39% for the fiscal management heading compared to the initial allocations.
RSS
Comment