KATHMANDU: The government’s expenditure has significantly surpassed its income by the second quarter of the current fiscal year 2024/25, according to data from the Office of the Financial Comptroller.
The government’s total income by the end of Falgun (March 13) stood at Rs 738.82 billion, while expenditure soared to Rs 839.35 billion.
This discrepancy has resulted in a budget deficit of Rs 153.47 billion within the second quarter.
Development expenditure remains critically low during this period. Capital expenditure accounted for just 23.37% of the annual allocation by the end of Falgun.
Out of the Rs 352.35 billion allocated under the capital heading for the current fiscal year, only Rs 82.33 billion has been utilized.
The government had announced a budget of Rs 1.860 trillion for the fiscal year, of which 45.12%, or Rs 839.35 billion, has been spent so far.
Out of the Rs 1.140 trillion allocated under the current heading, 51.21%, or Rs 584.12 billion, has been spent. Similarly, out of the Rs 367 billion allocated under the financial management heading, 47.07%, or Rs 172.89 billion, has been spent.
The government aimed to collect Rs 1.471 trillion in revenue for the fiscal year. However, only 50.2% of the target, or Rs 738.82 billion, has been achieved so far.
Out of the targeted Rs 1.284 trillion for tax revenue, Rs 638.79 billion has been collected, accounting for 49.74% of the goal.
In terms of non-tax revenue, Rs 81.54 billion has been collected out of the targeted Rs 135.93 billion, which makes up 60.36% of the target.
The government’s foreign grant collection is also notably weak. Out of the target of collecting Rs 52.32 billion in foreign grants for the current fiscal year, only 17.51%, or Rs 9.16 billion, has been collected so far.
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