Minister Pun asks govt agencies to increase spending capacity

Kathmandu: Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun has said government is preparing to allocate the budget only to the projects having the capacity to spend it. The Finance Minister said so during a meeting with the secretaries of different ministries and security chiefs in the Finance Ministry on Thursday. On the occasion, Minister Pun stressed that the government agencies should up their capacity to spend the budget, adding that all the ministries except the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation had made less than 40 per cent in capital expenditure. He pointed out that a lack of competence in budget allocation is also responsible for limited capital expenditure besides poor spending capacity. "But, it will not repeat in the upcoming fiscal year. The Finance Ministry is in the mentality to allocate budget only to the projects where spending is likely. Finance Minister Pun also announced that unrealistic projects will not get budget in the upcoming fiscal year. Due to delay in budget implementation, there is adverse impact on employment creation and capital formation, the Finance Minister said, urging to end the trend of not spending budget in time. He argued that limited capital spending and a shrink in revenue collection have created issues in the country's economy though the external sector is improving gradually. Source: National News Agency Nepal