Only 39% revenue collected in seven months

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Feb. 20: Revenue of around Rs. 567.4 billion has been collected in the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2023/24. According to the daily report of the Financial Comptroller General Office under the Ministry of Finance, the revenue collection of the government during the review period stands at Rs. 567.4 billion which is 39.89 per cent of the initial annual target (Rs. 1,422.54 billion).

Out of the toral revenue collection, tax revenue stood at Rs. 510.4 billion or 39.1 per cent and non-tax revenue stood at Rs. 56.9 billion or 48.61 per cent of the annual target. Of the total revenue collection target of Rs 1,422.54 billion, Rs. 1,305.4 billion is to be raised under tax revenue and Rs. 117.06 billion under non-tax revenue in the current fiscal year.

During the review period of the current fiscal year, grants of only Rs. 2.75 billion have been received by the government. It is 5.52 per cent of the annual target of the government. The government has set an annual target of Rs. 49.94 billion grants for the current fiscal year. 

However, the government has received Rs. 21.3 billion under other recipients in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. The revenue collection has increased by 7.12 per cent during the review period as compared to the same period last year. 

The government had collected revenue of Rs. 529.68 billion during the first seven months of the last fiscal year 2022/23. During the review period, the total income of the government stood at Rs. 591.55 billion. This is 40.17 per cent of the annual receipts target of the government.

During the review period, the government has spent Rs. 686.75 billion budget. The government is in deficit in the first seven months of the current fiscal year due to higher expenses than total income. The government is in deficit of Rs. 95 billion during the review period. The government has spent only 39.21 per cent in the first seven months of the total budget of Rs. 1,751.31 billion for the current fiscal year.

Of the total budget expenses, capital expenditure stands only at 21.05 per cent of total allocation in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. Of the Rs. 302 billion allocated under capital expenditure, only Rs. 50.90 billion has been spent by February 12, 2024.

The recurrent expenditure of the government stood at 44.58 per cent (Rs. 509 billion) during the review period. 

The government has allocated Rs. 1,141.78 billion under the heading of recurrent expenditure for the current fiscal year.

However, a week ago, the government had revised the income and expenditure target for the current fiscal year. 

The Ministry of Finance has reduced the size of budget by about Rs. 221 billion to Rs. 1,530.26 billion for the current fiscal year. It is 87.38 per cent of the initially allocated budget. 

By end of the current fiscal year, it is estimated that around Rs. 1,309.30 billion will be arranged form government sources (revenue and domestic borrowing) and Rs. 40.12 billion from foreign grants and Rs. 180.83 billion from foreign loans.

The government had set a target of raising Rs. 1,240 billion from revenue, Rs. 49.94 billion from foreign grants, Rs. 212 billion from foreign loans and Rs. 240 billion from domestic borrowing.