June 29: Experts have expressed concerns over the current trend of government spending. They were particularly concerned about the increasing current expenses and declining capital expenditure of the government.  

If the current trend of dwindling capital expenditure and rising current expenditure continues, a serious crisis would emerge in 10 years, warned Balanand Poudel, Chairperson of National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission (NNRFC).

He made such remarks during a discussion organized by the National Concern and Coordination Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Poudel added that it is high time to change the trend and structure of government spending.

"The ratio of development expenditure and current expenditure was almost equal till 2054 BS. After that, the current expenditure skyrocketed while the capital spending shrunk. Time has come to change the structure of government spending," he underscored.    
According to the state-owned RSS, the parliamentary committee had organized a discussion with the National Planning Commission and the NNRFC on the management of development projects.    
Chair Paudel admitted that there was problem among three layers of government relating to the use of national resources and distribution of revenue. He blamed the policy confusion behind this problem. "For instance, huge chunk of budget is spent on education sector; big buildings are constructed, but there are few students. Quality education is elusive," RSS quoted Poudel as saying. According to Poudel, only investment is not enough but policy intervention is required to improve the quality of education.    
On the occasion, Vice Chair of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, said the NPC was working for long term policy making, planning, monitoring and evaluation, coordination among different layers of governments and bodies, and research.    
He said that the conditional grants and fiscal equalization grants have been increased for the upcoming fiscal year. Shrestha also admitted that there was duplication on drinking water, roadway and other infrastructure projects.    
Currently, the NPC is preparing to formulate a periodic plan, which is required for planned development.    
Categorization of development project, criteria and bases of categorization, fiscal federalism, implementation status of NPC's recommendation, problems faced by the NPC and Fiscal Commission, challenges and future planning are underway, said Shrestha.    
During the discussion, Committee Chairperson Dil Kumari Rawal Thapa viewed there was no in-depth analyses on investment and return of national pride projects; budget allocation was random and guided by political influence; monitoring and evaluation was weak; non-coordination and cooperation among ministries and governments; non-implementation of fiscal discipline and arrears was growing. For these to be curbed, both the NPC and NNRFC must be serious, she underlined.    
Other members of the committee questioned the role of district coordination committee, centralized mindset of government, and undermining the sub-national governments. Exhaustion of natural resources and violation of budget ceiling also featured in the discussion. -- RSS