Boost Budget Spending

Capital spending has been dismal for several years. This fiscal year too only 56 per cent of development budget has been spent as of Tuesday (July 9). This demonstrates the government's efforts and strategy to mobilise the development budget in time have not come to fruition. On the other hand, the tendency to spend the capital budget haphazardly towards the final months/weeks of the fiscal year to avoid its freeze continues to set bad precedent of development works. With just over a week left until the completion of the fiscal year, almost half of the budget remains unused. The then finance minister had announced a substantial budget of Rs. 1751.3 billion, with Rs. 302 billion reserved for capital expenditure. However, only Rs. 157.7 billion has been spent. This recurring inefficiency in capital budget spending is not a new phenomenon. Over the past three years, capital budget mobilisation has consistently fallen below 56 per cent. Last fiscal year, only 55.22 per cent of the allocated Rs. 380.3 billion was spent. The situation was even more depressing during the COVID-19 pandemic in FY 2021/22, with just 46 per cent utilisation, and in FY 2020/21, where 53.6 per cent of the development budget was used.