Kathmandu, July 15

The government missed the budget expenditure target in fiscal 2016-17 as the pace of development expenditure remained sluggish with only 65.5 per cent of the Rs 311.95 billion allocated for development works spent.

Also, a large chunk of resources allotted for post-earthquake reconstruction and some national pride projects such as Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track and the International Airport in Nijgadh were not used due to lack of project preparedness.

Leaving aside data for fiscal 2015-16, when development expenditure was affected due to unfavourable situation caused by trade disruptions, development expenditure in 2016-17 was the lowest since 2011-12.

According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the overall budget expenditure stood at Rs 823.48 billion or 78.51 per cent of the total allocation of Rs 1,048.92 billion.

The government spent 83.7 per cent or Rs 516.34 billion of the total allocated recurrent budget of Rs 617.16 billion. This budget is used to provide grants to local bodies and pay salaries of civil servants, among others. Likewise, under the heading ‘financing’, used for principal and interest repayment of foreign loans and investments in public enterprises, around 86 per cent of the allocated Rs 119.81 billion was spent in 11 months.

However, the government’s revenue collection exceeded the target by Rs 46.30 billion. The government has collected revenue worth Rs 612.20 billion against a target of Rs 565.9 billion, as per the FCGO.