Govt agencies have Rs 73.2 billion in arrears

KATHMANDU, April 13:

Total arrears with different government bodies stood at Rs 73.20 billion at the end of fiscal year 2012/13, according to a report prepared by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).

The report submitted to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Friday states that arrears is increasing due to negligence in expenditure system and the lack of good governance. It pinpoints key issues on the governance, irregularities and performance of the state funded development projects.

According to the report, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) is ahead of other government agencies in terms of arrears. The ministry has total arrears of Rs 6.59 billion till the end of fiscal year 2012/13, up by 22 percent compared to 2011/12. Similarly, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Urban Development has Rs 4.24 billion, Rs 3.18 billion, Rs. 2.52 billion, and Rs 2.07 billion in arrears.

The financial statement of Ministry of Youths and Sports, and Ministry of Law, Justice, Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs appeared sound as at 2012/13 with zero arrears, the report shows.

The OAG also audited the performance of development projects, according to Auditor General Bhanu Prasad Acharya. “We found that the government spent Rs 20.35 billion in the last month of 2012/13 when it was scheduled to spend Rs 9.5 billion only. This shows the lack of budget discipline,” he added.

Parliamentarians will now discuss the report in Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The committee keeps a tab on the recovery of arrears with concerned ministries and departments.

The report also indicates the tax exemption has become a serious problem in country´s finance management. During the fiscal year, the government tax exemption amounting to of Rs 24.42 billion. Likewise, it returned Rs 7.1 billion to traders from VAT mobilized in vegetable ghee, oil and mobile phones.
According to the report, VAT credit amount is increasing with each passing year in comparison to VAT debit amount.

The government mobilized Rs 54.39 billion through VAT in 2012/13. Of that, VAT credit remained at Rs 17.53 billion. Similarly, the report has raised serious question on implementation of VAT. According to the report, 22 percent of taxpayers have not submitted their tax details. Likewise, 32 percent of tax payers have showed zero collection of VAT, while 52 percent showed VAT credit which means they have not sold products that they imported through different customs points.

The government is yet to recover outstanding revenue dues worth Rs 9.52 billion till 2012/13, according to the report.

Source: Republica