Government Expenditure Increases in the Second Quarter

By the second quarter of this fiscal year (2024-25), the government has spent much more money than it has earned, according to the Office of the Financial Comptroller.

By the end of Falgun (March 13), the government’s total income was Rs 738.82 billion, but its spending reached Rs 839.35 billion.

This means there is a budget shortfall of Rs 153.47 billion in just the first half of the year.

Spending on development projects has been very low with only 23.37% of the total budget set aside for such projects used.

The government had planned to spend Rs 352.35 billion on development, but only Rs 82.33 billion has actually been spent so far.

The total budget for this fiscal year is Rs 1.860 trillion, and so far, the government has spent 45.12% of it, which is Rs 839.35 billion.

For regular expenses, Rs 1.140 trillion was allocated, and 51.21% of that (Rs 584.12 billion) has been used. For financial management, Rs 367 billion was allocated, and 47.07% of that (Rs 172.89 billion) has been spent.

The government had hoped to collect Rs 1.471 trillion in revenue this year. So far, only 50.2% of that goal has been met, with Rs 738.82 billion collected.

From tax revenue, the goal was Rs 1.284 trillion, but only Rs 638.79 billion (49.74%) has been collected.

For non-tax revenue, Rs 81.54 billion has been collected out of the Rs 135.93 billion target, which is 60.36% of the goal.

The government has also struggled to get foreign grants with only 17.51% (Rs 9.16 billion) out of the target (Rs 52.32 billion) received so far.