As of Wednesday, the revenue collection is 50.66 percent of the targeted amount of Rs 1.422 trillion

KATHMANDU, April 12: The government collected only half of its targeted revenue even as the third quarter of the current fiscal year is about to end.

According to the Financial Comptroller General Office, the government collected only Rs 720.67 billion in revenue as of Wednesday. It accounts for 50.66 percent of the projected amount of Rs 1.422 trillion for the fiscal year 2023/24.

The government is grappling with adequate revenue collection this year. Amid a slowdown in economic activities along with the government’s inefficiency in making notable capital expenditure and slow lending by banks, the government is unlikely to meet even the revised revenue collection target this year.

Announcing the annual budget for the FY 2023/24, the government had maintained the revenue collection target at Rs 1.422 trillion. Citing the slow revenue collection, the government through the mid-term review, slashed the target to Rs 1.309 trillion.  

The collection of tax revenue also stood at just 49.85 percent. While the target has been set at Rs 1.305 trillion under the heading, the collected amount was only 650.81 billion during the review period.  

On the other hand, the non tax revenue and grants amount are also far below the government’s targets. The amount collected under non-tax revenue is only Rs 69.85 billion against the target of Rs 117.06 billion. Likewise, the government received grants of only Rs 2.75 billion against the estimated amount of Rs 49.94 billion.

Setting an ambitious target, the government raised the annual revenue collection target by 41 percent through the annual budget. However, the FCGO records show that the government has been able to increase the amount by hardly nine percent compared to the revenue collection of the last fiscal year.   

Although the new government alliance has reiterated to maintain notable revenue mobilization through effective measures, it has failed to do so in practice. In the past one month after Finance Minister Barshaman Pun assumed office, the government has collected Rs 101.22 billion in revenue.  

While the third-quarter of the current FY has almost come to an end, the government is able to spend 31.4 percent of the capital expenditure. The actual target for spending on development projects stands at Rs 302.07 billion.

Out of the total expenditure of Rs 901.21 billion exhausted during the review period, Rs 640.67 billion was the recurrent expenditure while Rs 165.67 billion was spent on financial management to pay the liabilities under public debt.

 
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