Capital expenditure remains meagre

Kathmandu, Oct. 3

The coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the development works across the country.

The capital expenditure in the first two and a half months of the current fiscal year 2020/21 has hit 2.8 per cent with total budget mobilisation of Rs. 9.89 billion.

Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada had allocated Rs. 352.9 billion as development expenditure of the total Rs. 1,474.6 billion budget for this year.

Capital budget expenditure this year is less by about one percentage point against last year when it was 3.78 per cent of the total development budget at Rs. 15.4 billion out of Rs. 408 billion.

Recurrent expenditure has also remained modest this year. Of Rs. 948.9 billion recurrent budget, Rs. 115.2 billion is mobilised so far this year while Rs. 144.2 billion was mobilised in the same period last year.

However, financing provision has remained almost alike with Rs. 2.5 billion this year against Rs. 2.1 billion last year.

As the pandemic hit the development sector halting some large and medium infrastructure projects, the expenditure has remained scanty.

According to the National Planning Commission, some of the projects are yet to resume construction work after the lockdown while it continues with just a few workers.

Small development projects managed and implemented by the local bodies were the most affected till August.

Meanwhile, revenue collection has remained satisfactory. Rs. 130.8 billion revenue is collected in the first two and a half months of this year which is about 13 per cent of the total annual target of Rs. 1,011.7 billion.

The revenue collection in the same period last year was Rs. 159.5 billion – 14.3 per cent of the total target Rs. 1,112 billion. Tax revenue collection is about 15 per cent of the target this year which was 15 per cent last year.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 October 2020.