Non-budgetary demands soar to Rs 48 billion
KATHMANDU, MAY 25 -
Management of non-budgetary demands has always been a major challenge for the Ministry of Finance (MoF). And this year is no different. At a time when the government and its ministries are struggling to speed up budget spending, the MoF has already received a demand for Rs 48 billion of non-budgetary expenses.
The MoF officials say they have a long list of non-budgetary demands, ranging from government agencies to individuals. The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has demanded more than Rs 9 billon, while Home Ministry has asked for an additional Rs 8 billion for Home Administration Strengthening Programme for this year although the total budget projected for the progarmme is of Rs 22 billion for the next five years.
The Ministry of Education has demanded Rs 1.25 billion in additional fund, stating that it didnot have sufficient budget to pay salary to the primary level teachers. The ministry has also demanded additional Rs 1 billion for pension of Lower Secondary and Secondary level teachers. Also on the list is the Supreme Court, which has demanded an extra budget of Rs 3 billion.
Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota said that the Finance Ministry would provide necessary budget for priority first projects and salaries for the government employees. “We will not provide additional budget to the projects which don’t fall under aforementioned category,” he said.
The strong directive from the Parliamentary panels and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority bar the government from releasing and transferring budget from one heading to another.
The Finance Ministry has committed necessary budget for national pride projects without delay. However, there has been a few request for additional resources for such projects.
With the current fiscal year nearing its close, the government’s total spending has stood less than 60 percent of the allocated budget. According to the Nepal Rastra Bank’s latest statistics, only Rs 206.5 billion out of the total budget of Rs 384.9 billion has been spent. And the capital expenditure is even more disappointing, with the actual expediture estimated at 40 percent of the total Rs 72.21 billion. “At a time when the budgeted amount has not been spent, the huge demand for additional amount suggests the fiscal discipline,” said a joint secretary of the Finance Ministry.
The ministry officials say frequent government changes have been one of the main factors behind the rising non budgetary demands. Banskota said that with the change in the government priority of the ministry changes. “This has been the main reason behind the rise in non budgetary demands every year,” said Baskota. “Not only political leadership, bureaucratic leadership also changes frequently which also results in non-budgetary demands.”
Source: The Kathmandu Post
