Kathmandu, July 16

Around 29 per cent of the budget remained unspent in the last fiscal 2015-16, as the government largely missed its expenditure target in development works.

The government spent Rs 585.65 billion, which is only 71.47 per cent of the total budget of Rs 819.47 billion of last fiscal, according to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO).

Though the government had increased the size of the budget last fiscal as compared to Rs 618.10 billion of fiscal 2014-15, budget implementation was not encouraging.

The government had spent 82.78 per cent of the total budget and 70 per cent of the total earmarked capital budget worth Rs 116.76 billion in fiscal 2014-15.

The government had spent only 56.30 per cent of the total earmarked capital budget of Rs 208.88 billion in last fiscal, as per FCGO.

A large chunk of capital budget worth Rs 91.27 billion remained

unspent because of the unfavourable situation caused by the supply line

disruptions for four-and-a-half months in last fiscal.

This in turn dampened all the development activities in the country.

Similarly, the government spent Rs 366.41 billion in salary payment of civil servants, grants to local bodies and debt servicing under recurrent expenditure heading.

The fiscal budget 2015-16 had allocated Rs 484.27 billion for recurrent expenditure.

Of the Rs 126.33 billion earmarked for financing provision last fiscal, the government spent 80.39 per cent on investment in state-owned enterprises and for principal repayment.

On the brighter side, the government exceeded revenue collection target in fiscal 2015-16.

As per the FCGO, the government had collected Rs 481.71 billion against the target of Rs 475 billion in last fiscal year.

The government had missed collection target by up to Rs 50 billion by the end of the eighth month of the fiscal.

Revenue collection gradually recovered after the end of border tensions.

Still, there was a shortfall in collection target till the 11th month of last fiscal.

But the government managed to make up for the shortfall as it collected Rs 85.6 billion in the last month of the fiscal 2015-16.