Failure to claim reimbursements on time adds to govt burden
KATHMANDU, APR 15 -
The government’s failure to claim reimbursement of spent budget from donors on time has added to its burden.
Although the amount to be reimbursed by donors decreased by 17.52 percent to Rs 17. 66 billion as of last year, the government’s burden surged as it was forced to spend its own resources despite the availability of foreign aid, according to a report of the Office of the Auditor General.
“Government agencies have to show more urgency to get reimbursement timely,” states the report.
As of 2010-11 the government failed to get reimbursed Rs 17.66 billion, according to the report. The figure as of the previous year was at Rs 21.41 billion. Last year’s budget had provisioned that Rs 22.08 billion would to be spent under donor’s head.
Rameswore Khanal, economic advisor to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, said Nepal was finding it hard to get reimbursements timely due carelessness of accountants at the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO).
Recently, FCGO employees halted office work, demanding annulment of the government’s decision to transfer some employees, which forced the government to hold its decision.
The government has adopted a policy of not releasing additional budget to projects failing to seek reimbursement timely. However, even the budget arranged from donor’s head has not been spent properly. Only 50 percent of the budget released from donors’ grant sources to 12 projects was spent last fiscal year, according to the report. “But the government agencies have not disclosed the reason behind the projects’ failure in spending the budget,” it says. The government had released Rs 6.76 billion for these 12 projects last year, but they could only spend Rs 2.09 billion. A total of Rs 907 million meant for these projects were not released.
Similarly, the government has had to get reimbursed Rs 6.93 billion in loans as of last fiscal year—down 35.75 percent compared to previous year’s Rs 10.79 billion.
Meanwhile, the government received just Rs 45.92 billion (70.28 percent) of the total grant amount of Rs 65.34 billion expected by last year’s budget. And in loans, the government received just Rs 12 billion (54.32 percent) of the total loans sought from donors—Rs 22.23 billion.
Khanal said government agencies’ ineffectiveness to mobilise donors’ money resulted in less-than-expected receipt of aid.
The report also says that the government failed to disclose areas where technical assistance from donors was spent. The government had signed 95 technical assistance agreements worth Rs 18.68 billion, but the areas where 81.92 percent of aid was spent were not clear. However, the report says that these agreements didn’t mention the amount under each agreement.
Source: Kantipur
