Half-yearly review of budget: Nepal faces Rs 48.46bn deficit

KATHMANDU: The government expenditure surpassed income, resulting in a budget deficit of Rs 48.46 billion in the first half of current fiscal year 2023/24.

Data from the Office of the Auditor General shows that during the half-yearly review period until mid-January, revenue collections achieved 35.19% of the annual target, while expenditures reached 32.35%.

For the current fiscal year, the government projected a revenue collection of Rs 1,472 billion. However, collections until mid-January amounted to Rs 518 billion, representing 35.19% of the target.

Likewise, tax revenue collections totalled Rs 443.05 billion, equating to 33.98% of the target. non-taxation collections amounted to Rs 52.094 billion, or 45.23% of the target.

The government set a target to receive foreign grants totalling Rs 49.94 billion in the current fiscal year. So far, 5% of this amount, or Rs 2.75 billion, has been received.

Out of the total annual budget of over Rs 1.75 trillion for the current fiscal year, Rs 566.62 billion had been spent by January 14. This expenditure is equivalent to 32.35% of the annual target.

Of the total budget of over Rs 1.14 trillion allocated under the current heading, 38.31% or Rs 437.38 billion has been spent. Similarly, of the Rs 302.07 billion allocated for capital expenditure, 16.3% or Rs 49.23 billion has been spent. Of the Rs 307.45 billion budget allocated for financial management, 26.2% or nearly Rs 80 billion has been spent.