Government spending comes down

The government spending till December 3 has come down to 1.7 per cent compared to same period last year.
"The government has spent only Rs 47,062.2 million till December 3," according to the finance ministry that has brought the full-fledged budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 on November 20 -- after a long tug-of-war with the opponent UCPN-Maoists.
Similarly, the revenue mobilisation growth has also come down. "By December 3, the government has been able to mobilise Rs 57,898.7 million that is only 9.3 per cent growth compared to the same period last year," the finance ministry added.
But according to the central bank, during the first three months of fiscal year 2010-11, government budget remained at a deficit of Rs 3.95 billion. "A high growth in expenditure relative to revenue mobilisation accounted for such a government budget deficit," the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said, adding that in the same period last year, budget deficit had stood at Rs 90.5 million.
During the review period, total government spending increased by 12.6 per cent to Rs 44.68 billion compared to an increase of 35.5 per cent in the same period of last year. The growth rate of total government expenditure slowed mainly due to the decline in the growth rate of both recurrent and capital expenditures duirng the review period.
Similarly, the revenue mobilisation of the government grew by only 9.4 per cent to Rs 37.54 billion in the first three months of 2010-11 compared to an increase of 53.7 per cent to Rs 34.32 billion in the same period of last year.
"The growth rate of value added tax (VAT) accelerated, like always, but the growth rates of customs duties, income tax and excise revenue decelerated compared to that in the same period of the last year.
Likewise, the non-tax revenue declined compared to that in the same period of last year.
"Foreign cash loans of Rs 908.9 million and foreign cash grants of Rs 2.85 billion were received by the government in the first three months of the current fiscal year against the foreign cash loans of Rs 584.1 million and foreign cash grants of Rs 3.78 billion in the same period last year," the central bank said.