Capital spending at 18pc in first 7 months
KATHMANDU, FEB 24 - Capital expenditure continues to remain poor despite timely budget presentation.
As of February 22, only 18.81 percent of the capital budget has been spent, according to the Finance Ministry. A total of Rs 16 billion was spent under the capital budget heading, against the allocated budget of Rs 85 billion for this fiscal year.
Ram Sharan Pudashaini, spokesperson for the Finance Ministry, termed the poor capital expenditure despite timely budget “unfortunate”.
Performance of some of the key first priority projects has remained weak in terms of capital expenditure .
President Chure Conservation Programme is one of national pride projects mentioned in the budget for this year, but the expenditure of the project in the first seven months is disappointing.
Of the allocated Rs 480 million capital budget for the programme, the government has so far spent just 5.5 percent, according to the Finance Ministry.
With an aim of conserving the Chure region through an integrated campaign, the government had doubled the allocation this fiscal year.
Similar is the situation with South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Information Highway Project. Only 0.15 percent of the allocated Rs 200 million has been spent as of the seventh month this fiscal year.
Umakanta Parajuli, spokesperson for the Ministry of Information and Communication that is undertaking the project, said the expenditure remained poor as the contractor chosen for laying optical fibre could not work due to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) delay in issuing the letter of commitment to formally allow the contractor to start work.
“It has already been three and half months since the documents reached the ADB, but we are yet to get a clearance,” he added. South Korean Company, ICRAFT has been selected for the project through a bidding process. Parajuli said the company has demanded at least eight months to complete the assigned job and expected the ADB would soon issue the letter.
According to Finance Ministry officials, performance of foreign-aided projects has remained much poorer than domestically-funded ones.
Madhu Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division, said lengthy procedures, different procurement guidelines and delay in accounting expenditure were affecting foreign-aided projects.
Donor-funded programmes and projects, including Micro-Enterprise Development Programme, Information Technology Development Programme under the Prime Minister’s Office, have also performed poorly, as the expenditure stood at just 1.19 percent and 3.76 percent, respectively.
Spending at domestically-funded National Identity Card Management Programme stood at just 0.51 percent in seven months. Vocational Education and Training Enhancement Programme (Rs 1.01 billion allocated budget) and Industrial Infrastructure Development Programme (Rs 1.22 billion allocated budget) have also preformed low, according to the Finance Ministry.
Spending of key programmes
President Chure Conservation Programme
Capital budget: Rs 480 million
Expenditure: 5.5 percent
SASEC Information Highway
Capital Budget: Rs 200 million
Expenditure: 0.15 percent
Vocational Education and Training Enhancement Proograme
Budget: Rs 1.01 billion
Expenditure: 16 percent
Industrial Infrastructure
Development Programme
Capital Budget: Rs 1.22 billion
Expenditure: 9.88 percent
Micro-Enterprises Development
Programme
Total budget: Rs 400 million
Expenditure: 1.19 percent
National Identity Card Management Programme
Capital Budget: Rs 570 million
Expenditure: 0.51 percent
Information Technology Development Programme
Capital budget: Rs 1.22 billion
Expenditure: 3.76 percent
(Source: The Kathmandu Post)
