FM Paudel directs revenue officials to intensify efforts to meet targes

Kathmandu, Nov. 5

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has directed the officials of revenue administration to intensify efforts in revenue collection.

Addressing a meeting with ministry secretaries and departmental chiefs at the Ministry of Finance at the Singha Durbar on Tuesday, Minister Paudel instructed them to go beyond average performance and ensure their teams are fully engaged in achieving revenue targets.

Stressing that standard efforts would yield only ordinary results, Minister Paudel emphasised that a 13 per cent increase in revenue mobilisation compared to the same period last year was not sufficient, Ministry of Finance (MoF) informed in a statement.

The government has set a target to collect Rs. 1419.30 billion revenue in the current Fiscal Year 2024/25 and has collected 19 per cent (Rs. 280.16 billion) of it in the first three and a half months, according to the data published by the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO). Last year, the government was able to rack up Rs. 247.41 billion (17.39 per cent) in the same period against the target of Rs. 1422.54 billion.

As mentioned in the budget of this FY, tax and non-tax revenue targets are set at Rs. 1284.20 billion and Rs. 135.09 billion respectively while grants target was set up at 52.32 billion.

By Monday, total revenue mobilisation by the government stood at Rs. 285.88 billion against the total expenditure from treasury at Rs. 382.51 billion, creating a gap of about Rs. 97 billion between the income and expenses of the government which means the government needs to raise funds from borrowing.

Meanwhile, the capital expenditure has remained just 9.24 per cent (Rs. 32.56 billion) against the total allocation of Rs. 352.35 billion. However, this is better than the performance of the last FY 2023/24 – Rs. 267.96 billion of the annual allocation Rs. 302.07 billion.

Amidst such a situation, DPM Paudel said that revenue collection should be carried out in accordance with the constitution as well as laws and in the nation's best interest, addressing taxpayers’ concerns in line with legal provisions, and urged officials to be proactive.

Minister Paudel further directed officials to take immediate measures to address emerging challenges in revenue collection and enhance coordination among security personnel and other inter-agency teams to curb revenue leakage. He said that any lapses in revenue collection should be met with prompt action against those responsible, the MoF said.

In support of these efforts, DPM Paudel assured leadership's commitment to implementing policy, structural, and procedural reforms to improve the revenue collection system.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Finance Secretary Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire, Revenue Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Chief of the Revenue Management Division Uttar Kumar Khatri, Directors General of the Department of Customs Hari Sharan Pudasaini, and DG of Inland Revenue Department Ram Prasad Acharya.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 November 2024.