Kathmandu, April 17

The total capital expenditure in the country stood at 36 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

The information was shared during the second quarterly meeting of the ministry-level development problem resolution committee held today in Singha Durbar.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minster for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara is the chairman of the committee.

Officials pledged to increase the total capital expenditure by up to 80 per cent till the end of the current fiscal by expediting budget implementation.

Mahara directed the ministry and the bodies concerned to increase the capital expenditure in the remaining period of the current fiscal by speeding up development works.

“We gave big talks on budget implementation, but failed to carry them out practically. Let’s not allocate budget to programmes that failed to spend 50 per cent of the capital expenditure,” Mahara added.

Likewise, Secretary at the Finance Ministry Shantaraj Subedi said that the programmes have not reached the targeted class. He said the situation of budget implementation was disappointing.

“It is unfortunate that only Rs 520 million has been given of the Rs 52 billion meant to be given to quake-affected households at two per cent per annum interest. The ministry’s quake-hit under-secretary too has not received the amount,” the finance secretary said.

However, the ministry’s Spokesperson Ramsharan Pudasaini said that  revenue collection had crossed 104 per cent of the target.