First quarter of the budget: revenue improves, capital spending stays weak

Revenue collection improved in the first three months of the current fiscal year 2083/84, but budget spending remained slow, according to Finance Ministry data.

The ministry said about Rs 301 billion in revenue was collected from Shrawan to the end of Asoj, nearly 91 percent of the target. This is about 20 percent higher than revenue collected in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The government is implementing a budget of around Rs 2,124 billion this year. Of this, about Rs 400 billion had been spent by the end of Asoj, nearly 19 percent of the annual target.

Even of the amount spent, more went toward current expenditure and debt repayment than toward capital spending. By the end of the first quarter, public debt had reached around Rs 3 trillion, about 46 percent of gross domestic product.