Tuesday, January 31, 2017

10 ministries spend less than 10 per cent capital budget

The government agencies are losing their institutional capacity to expedite capital spending.
"Ten ministries and central authorities have been able to spend less than 10 per cent of their total capital budget by January 27,” says Financial Comptroller General Rajendra Prasad Nepal.
Likewise, 12 ministries have been able to spend between 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the allocated development budget, while only seven ministries have been able to spend between 20 per cent and 25 per cent by January 27, he added.
Population and Environment Ministry has managed to spend a paltry 0.72 per cent of its development budget, followed by Supplies Ministry (3.03 per cent), Youth and Sports Ministry (4.08 per cent) and Foreign Affairs Ministry (5.16 per cent). While Industry Ministry has spent only 7.94 per cent of its capital budget; Culture, Tourism and Aviation Ministry has managed to spend 8.39 per cent by January 27. "The other central authorities that are the Office of President and Office of the Prime Minister have also spent less than 10 per cent of their capital budget," Nepal informed.
On one hand the ministries have been unable to spend, and on the other they have been asking for more budget from out of the budget programmes. "Though the ministries have failed to spend, they have asked for more capital budget," finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi said.
Ministries have sought additional budget of Rs 215 billion, which is nearly 69 per cent of the total capital budget, he said, adding that the inefficiency of ministries was worrying.
Inefficient bureaucracy, procedural hurdles, lack of carrot and stick policy, and ad hoc budget preparation process are blamed for low capital spending that could have contributed to not only in employment generation but also in economic development in the long run.
Nearly half a dozen ministries, including Education Ministry, Health Ministry, Agriculture Development Ministry, Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ministry and Irrigation Ministry that have the largest chunk of budget have failed to spend. They hold some 44 per cent of the total budget, according to Subedi.
“Their performance has not been satisfactory,” Subedi said, directing the ministries to either surrender the unspent budget or spend them effectively.
According to the Financial Comptroller General's Office, the government has been able to spend only 14.73 per cent of the total capital budget by yesterday. The erstwhile government, led by KP Oli, had brought Rs 1048.92 billion budget. Most of the secretaries of the related ministries, however, claimed that they were not consulted in the budget preparation process. They said that the budgetary allocation is of ad hoc nature.
The government so far has been able to spend Rs 45.96 billion capital budget which is 14.73 per cent of the total capital budget. The government has, by yesterday, been able to spend a total of Rs 304.60 billion that is only 29.04 per cent of the total budget.

Rs 34 billion reimbursements still to be claimed
KATHMANDU: The government is yet to claim reimbursements worth Rs 34 billion from different development partners. According to Financial Comptroller General's Office, many projects, which have already been closed, also have claims for reimbursements. Some 16 ministries have failed to claim reimbursements even though projects under them have already been closed,” Financial Comptroller General Rajendra Prasad Nepal said, adding that it has added additional financial burden on the government. "The ministries have to show more urgency to get reimbursements in time."

No comments: