'Implement budget to achieve capital expenditure target'

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, July 22: Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has directed secretaries of all ministries to implement the budget with concrete plans aimed at achieving full capital expenditure and meeting the government's revenue target.

Addressing a meeting of secretaries from all ministries at the Ministry of Finance on Monday on budget implementation plan for the fiscal year 2026/27, the Finance Minister instructed the secretaries to rectify the long-standing weaknesses of poor capital expenditure and inadequate revenue collection.

He said that the newly implemented budget marks the first phase of the government's five-year economic roadmap. 

He stressed that the government must not repeat the previous trend of failing to spend the allocated capital budget while also missing revenue targets.

"Capital expenditure in the last fiscal year was disappointing, reaching only around 49 per cent. Revenue collection also remained at only around Rs. 1,250 billion," Minister Wagle said. "Such results will not be acceptable under the new budget. 

We must achieve at least 80 per cent capital expenditure, and the mission to collect Rs. 1,600 billion in revenue must be fulfilled."

The Finance Minister also urged the secretaries to inform the Ministry of Finance without hesitation about any legal or practical obstacles to budget implementation and to proceed with implementation in a planned and systematic manner.

He said that, to facilitate budget implementation, the Ministry of Finance has delegated the authority to the respective ministries to reallocate budgetary resources and expand contingency budget allocations—a practice introduced in the previous fiscal year—and urged them to make effective use of this authority.