KATHMANDU: The government has spent just 18.56 percent of the Rs 1.964 trillion annual budget by mid-October, according to the Office of the Financial Comptroller General.

Recurrent expenditure reached Rs 256.80 billion, which is 21.75 percent of the total target of Rs 1.80 trillion.

Capital expenditure, however, remained sluggish at only Rs 19.18 billion — just 4.7 percent of the Rs 408.88 billion target.

Under financial management, Rs 88.60 billion was spent, accounting for 23.61 percent of the annual allocation, mostly for loan repayments and interest.

Compared to the same period last year, recurrent spending has increased, but capital expenditure has sharply declined, the report stated.

Revenue collection has fallen short of the target and is lower than last year’s level.

According to the Ministry of Finance, total revenue by mid-October stood at Rs 251.18 billion — just 78.12 percent of the target for the period. The government had aimed to collect Rs 321.53 billion by mid-October out of the annual target of Rs 1.48 trillion.

In mid-September to mid-October alone, revenue worth Rs 92.47 billion was collected against the Rs 103.07 billion target, achieving 89.71 percent.

On October 17 alone, Rs 8.06 billion was collected.

By comparison, Rs 253.01 billion had been collected during the same period last fiscal year, indicating a slight year-on-year decline in government revenue.