Govt expenditure exceeds income by 13.6 pc in Q2 of FY 2024/25

KATHMANDU: The government's expenditure has surpassed its income until the second quarter of the current fiscal year 2024/25.

According to data from the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government's income stood at over Rs 738.82 billion, while expenditure reached over Rs 839.35 billion by March 13.

This indicates that expenditure exceeded income by Rs 100.53 billion in the second quarter.

Similarly, the government's development expenditure has been weak during this period.

According to FCGO data, capital expenditure until March 13 was only 23.37% of the annual allocation. The government allocated over Rs 352.35 billion under the capital head for the current fiscal year, but only Rs 82.33 billion has been spent so far.

The government presented a budget of over Rs 1,860.30 billion for the current fiscal year.

By mid-March, 45.12% of the annual allocation, or over Rs 839.35 billion, had been spent. Of the over Rs 1,140.66 billion allocated under the current head, 51.21%, or over Rs 584.12 billion, has been spent.

Of the Rs 367.28 billion allocated for financial management, 47.07%, or Rs 172.89 billion, has been spent.

The government has so far collected 50.2%, or Rs 738.82 billion, in revenue against the target of Rs 1,471.62 billion for the current fiscal year. Out of this, Rs 1,284.20 billion has been allocated towards tax revenue, of which 49.74%, or Rs 638.79 billion, has been collected so far. Similarly, 60.36%, or Rs 81.54 billion, has been collected against the target of Rs 135.93 billion for non-tax revenue.

The government's foreign grant mobilisation is also very weak, according to FCGO data. Out of the target of collecting Rs 52.32 billion in foreign grants for the current fiscal year, 17.51% of the annual target, or Rs 9.16 billion, has been received so far.

By RSS/B360