July 6: The government is under pressure to release payments like in the previous years, as the current fiscal year is about to come to an end.

Government officials have said that the expenditure has increased to around Rs 10 billion daily from mid-June. 

According to the Finance Comptroller General’s Office, which keeps records of government income and expenses, the government had spent Rs 1.53 billion on June 15 but the daily expenditure has increased to Rs 9.48 billion from July 4. 

The government has spent 70  percent of the total budget as of July 4, 2021. It has spent 82.98 percent under current expenditure while less than 50 percent has been spent under capital expenditure. Records at the Finance Comptroller General’s Office show that 46.98 percent of the budget has been spent on development projects. 

The government has been claiming improvement in its spending capacity but the spending data shows otherwise. 

According to the Finance Comptroller General’s Office, there is not much difference compared to previous years in daily release of fund. Deputy Finance Comptroller General Gyandendra Poudel said the daily limit of fund release is increasing every day. Although the daily limit of spending has increased since mid June, the government is yet to spend Rs 437 billion of the allocated budget. 

In recent years, the government has been stepping up budget spending towards the end of fiscal year. Financial experts have been raising concerns about this trend. According to them, the expenditure happening at the end of the year doesn't give sustainable results. According to Bishwambher Pyakurel, financial expert, the spending nature has not changed at all. It is very clear that the government has not been able to reform the expenditure system.