Karnali collects 55% revenue of annual target in seven months

By Our Correspondent,Surkhet, Feb. 15: The Karnali provincial government has collected 55 per cent of revenue of its annual target in the first seven months of the current Fiscal Year 2023/24 when the federal government is struggling to meet its target and could only collect about 40 per cent revenue against its target during the same period.

Provincial stakeholders in Karnali said that this was a satisfactory achievement of the government.  

The federal government had estimated revenue of Rs. 1, 422 billion for this year. According to the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO)'s report, the federal government could collect only Rs. 515 billion in the first six months of this year – it is about 23 per cent less than the half-yearly target of Rs. 668 billion. By the end of the seven months, revenue mobilisation of the federal government stands at Rs. 570 billion. 

The Karnali government estimated revenue of Rs. 836.2 million this year. By mid-February, it has collected Rs. 462 million. In the last fiscal year 2022/23, the provincial government collected revenue of Rs. 636 million. Out of that, Rs. 352.5 were collected in the first seven months. 

Bidya Prasad Upadhyaya, officer of the Budget and Programme Division at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, said that there has been an improvement in revenue collection this year compared to the previous years. 

According to him, the ministry has increased its activity in revenue collection with a dedicated plan. The team assigned by the Ministry has reached the local levels of different districts and instructed them to deposit the revenue in the Provincial Treasury on a monthly basis.

Although the revenue collection has improved as per the target, the budget expenditure is not satisfactory. The Karnali government had allocated Rs. 33.37 billion for the current FY but only 15 per cent of the total budget has been spent in the seven months. 

According to the Ministry, the government in Karnali receives revenue under 32 different headings. Out of that, it received a grant of Rs. 105 million received from the federal government. Apart from that, it has collected Rs. 85.9 million from vehicle tax, Rs. 40.6 million from real estate registration fees, Rs. 32.8 from forest area royalty, and Rs. 25.3 million from other sources.

Similarly, driver's license and vehicle registration book fees collected stand at Rs. 39.3 million, and other forest sector income Rs. 18.9 million, administrative fines and confiscation Rs. 28.7 million, arrears Rs. 25.3 million, disbursement refund Rs. 38.7 million, and other administrative fees Rs. 12.8 million.