August 21: The government’s expenditure has increased slightly in the first month of the current fiscal year while the income has declined compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

As of mid-August of FY 2023/24, the government has collected revenue of Rs 79.92 billion. In the same period of last fiscal year, the government had collected Rs 80.82 billion in revenue.

Government expenditure this year seems to have increased significantly compared to last year. Last year, the government had spent Rs 23.00 billion in between mid-July and mid-August while the expenditure this year stands at Rs 41.43 billion.

The interesting thing is that the government seems to have spent more money on financial management than on current expenditure.

As of mid-August, the government has spent Rs 14.61 billion under the heading of current expenses and Rs 25.86 billion under the financial management heading.

The government started raising internal debt from mid-July saying that the interest burden would be higher later on. In previous years, there was no practice of taking loans at the beginning of the fiscal year.

In terms of income, it was difficult for the Department of Customs and the Inland Revenue Department to meet the target in the month of Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August). In the review month, the Department of Customs collected only Rs 32.66 billion against the target of Rs 39.71 billion.

The department was not able to collect revenue as per the target even in the first month of the last fiscal year. Last year, the department was able to collect only Rs 32.19 billion against the target of collecting Rs 39.60 billion. In mid-July to mid-August of the current fiscal year, the government has collected a little more revenue than last year, but this growth rate is not enough to achieve the overall revenue target.

The department, which collected revenue of Rs 391 billion last year, has been given a target of collecting Rs 627 billion in the current fiscal year.

To collect revenue according to the target, the department needs a growth rate of 60.36 percent.

Punya Bikram Khadka, information officer of the Department of Customs, says that the department cannot increase the revenue until there is an increase in imports.

Khadka says that since the revenue collection was 56/57 percent of the target in the previous years, this year’s collection of 82 percent revenue against the target should be considered positive.

Similarly, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which had set a target of collecting Rs 49 billion in revenue in mid-July to mid-August, has collected only Rs 40.5 billion.

The Inland Revenue Department, which collected Rs 479 billion in revenue last year, has set a target of collecting Rs 677 billion in the current fiscal year.

However, it seems that it will be difficult for the department to achieve the target.

The director general of the Inland Revenue Department, Dirgha Raj Mainali, says that since the economy is becoming vibrant, the revenue will be collected as per the target in the coming days.

Stating that 76/77 percent of the revenue was collected in the first month of last FY, he said that the department has collected 82 percent revenue this year.