Finance Ministry clears 50pc of arrears

KATHMANDU, JUL 20 -

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) cleared around 50 percent arrears last year. According to the ministry, it cleared Rs 2.18 billion out of the Rs 4.23 billion outstanding over the period.

A committee formed to recover arrears has been able to collect Rs 14.44 billion so far. The Ministry of Education is among the government entities clearing the largest amount of arrears. It cleared Rs 2.95 billion. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance came next with unaccounted dues of Rs 2.12 billion and Rs 2.05 billion respectively.

According to finance secretary Krishna Hari Baskota, the MoF’s privatisation wing has cleared 23.81 percent, the Office of the Comptroller General 52.04 percent and the Inland Revenue Department 55.74 percent of their arrears of last year. Similarly, the Department of Customs has cleared 45.43 percent, the Department of Revenue Investigation 50.37 percent and the Inland Administration Training Centre cleared 100 percent of its arrears during the period. The government has been adopting a policy of taking action against organisations that fail to clear at least 30 percent of the arrears while those clearing 30-45 percent are considered to be satisfactory.

Likewise, those which are able to clear over 45 percent are eligible to receive a commendation.

The report presented by the committee’s member-secretary Som Bahadur Thapa has identified fund transfers, lack of evidence to freeze amounts and failing to implement the necessary procedure while spending funds as the main factors for the existence of unaccounted sums.

Similarly, failure to maintain appropriate documents on expenditures, inability to clear advances on time, lacking trade-off between the reimbursement system on grants and loans with the accounting system,

delay in fixing the tax rate reviewed by the government and lacking payment of the tax in advance have also been blamed for the situation. 

During 2011-12, the MoF and its auxiliary offices were successful in recovering Rs 88.1 million out of Rs 401.7 million which had remained unaccounted by the end of 2002-03.

It has cleared 21.95 percent of the total amount. Similarly, 39.60 percent out of the Rs 2.43 billion unaccounted between 2003-04 and 2008-09 was also recovered last year. Likewise, Rs 1.13 billion out of the unaccounted Rs 1.39 billion of 2009-10 was also recovered last year.

Source: The Kathmandu Post