Budget deficit over Rs 156.44bn in 8 months of current FY: FCGO

KATHMANDU: The government's budget deficit has surpassed Rs 156.44 billion in eight months of the current fiscal year 2022/23, according to an analysis conducted by the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO). The government has spent Rs 779.23 billion of its budget as of mid-March this year while revenue collection has remained at Rs 622.78 billion. According to the revenue collection and budget expenditure details, expenditure appears to be more than the income of the government, thereby resulting in a deficit. The statistics show that the government has been able to achieve only 42.7% of its annual revenue collection target while only 43.44% of budget expenditure target has been met so far. The government had introduced Rs 1,793.83 billion in the annual budget for the fiscal year 2022/23. However, due to falling dismally short of the annual target, the government considered reducing the size of the budget by 14% or Rs 244 billion and maintained it at Rs 1,549.99 billion through a half-yearly review. The recurrent expenditure of the government in this period is 51.46%, capital expenditure is 22.15% and the expenditure towards fiscal management is 37.41%. The expenditure under the recurrent heading so far is equivalent to Rs 608.44 billion out of the annual allocation of Rs 1,183.23 billion under this heading. Likewise, expenditure under the capital heading is equivalent to Rs 84.25 billion out of the annual allocation of Rs 380.38 billion under this heading. Annual budget of Rs 230.21 billion has been allocated towards the financing expenditure heading and the expenditure until March 14 is Rs 86.12 billion. According to the data provided by the FCGO, the expenditure towards financial management is more than that of the capital expenditure during the eight months period. The government revenue collection until March 14 is 42.7% of the annual revenue collection target. The government has set the target of raising Rs 1,458.60 billion in the current fiscal year. So far, only Rs 622.78 billion has been collected. Of this, internal revenue collection is 41.53% or Rs 582.77 billion. The government has the target of accepting foreign assistance of Rs 55.45 billion this year and it has so far received 8.66% of this amount or Rs 4.80 billion. READ ALSO:

• Over 4,500 projects with budget worth Rs 142.43bn proposed to receive grants
• DPM Shrestha rues over meagre budget for education sector
• Finance Ministry's mid-term evaluation: Budget size reduced by Rs 244bn