March 24: Although the external sector indicators of the country's economy have been gradually improving, the field of public finance management is still challenging. The country is facing many problems in the areas of government’s income and expenditure, public debt management, government fund and resource mobilization.

Newly appointed Finance Minister Barshman Pun, in his first public program after assuming the responsibility of the ministry, admitted that there are problems in the field of public finance management and improving it will be his first priority.

Speaking at the 'RBBL Management Conference 2024' organized by the Rastriya Banijya Bank on last Saturday, Finance Minister Pun said that he would work to collect revenue as per the target and increase the capital budget expenditure through reforming the public finance sector. In every formal and informal program, he has spoken about the problems in the field of public finance management.

Looking at the data published by various government agencies, the field of public finance management still seems to be challenging.

According to the Finance Comptroller General Office, the country suffered a huge budget deficit of Rs 137 billion in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. It means that the government’s expenditures have exceeded its income by Rs 137 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year ie from mid-July to mid-March. According to the office, the government has spent a total of Rs 801.58 billion the review period and collected Rs 663.83 billion in revenue. It shows that the gap between the government’s income and expenditure is constantly increasing.