Various Ministries Surrender Budget Worth Rs 5 Billion
May 24, 2020 | Investopaper
As of Chaitra end of the current fiscal year, various ministries and agencies have surrendered a budget of around five billion rupees. According to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry and the Commission are also involved in returning the budget. According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Defense is at the forefront of surrendering most of the budget during this period.
The defense ministry has returned more than Rs 2.89 billion, including Rs 2.83 billion for the expressway and Rs 56.11 million for other headings. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has returned Rs. 726.2 million, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Rs. 515.7 million and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rs. 359.1 million.
The President’s Office has surrendered a budget of Rs 95 million. The office has returned the budget to the Ministry of Finance by postponing the budget during the Covid 19 epidemic. The Election Commission has also returned the budget of Rs. 203.1 million. The National Natural Resources and Finance Commission has returned Rs 10 million, the Secretariat of Public Expenditure Financial Accountability Rs 99.62 million and the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Rs 5 million.
The Ministry of Finance had earlier instructed that the budget should be surrendered as the expenditure was not as per the target and target as per the allocation. The ministry had informed the secretary and project chief of the concerned ministry that the budget allocated for the program should be returned if 50 percent of the expenditure is not met by Falgun end and the remaining period is not expected to be spent.
These bodies have returned the budget to the Ministry of Finance which could not be spent as per the instructions of the Ministry. The ministry has adopted the policy of surrender through the budget to discourage the trend of budget allocation but not spending, especially on the capital side.
According to the ministry, Rs. 495 billion has been spent on the current account till Chaitra end. The current year’s budget had set a target of spending Rs 957 billion on this topic.Similarly, out of the target of spending Rs 408 billion as capital expenditure, only Rs 105 billion has been spent until Chaitra end. The government’s spending has been further weakened due to the Lockdown that has been going on since Chaitra 11 as a measure to prevent corona infection. It has also had a huge impact on revenue collection. Meanwhile, the government is making final preparations to bring the budget.
