Various government agencies have returned the budget allotment of Rs5 billion to the Finance Ministry as of mid-April after they were unable to spend the amount in the running fiscal year.

According to the ministry, as many as nine government agencies, including the Nepal Army, have surrendered the unspent budget.

Earlier, the ministry had urged the government agencies to surrender the budget that cannot be spent this fiscal year. “The return of the budget at at a time when the government is facing resource crunch to spend for health facilities amid Covid-19 pandemic, is good,” said Hiranaya Prasad Parajuli, deputy financial comptroller general at the Financial Comptroller General Office, which keeps record of income and expenditure of the government.

At the Finance Ministry’s instruction, the Financial Comptroller General Office has already stopped spending from 14 budget headings to save resources to combat the Covid-19. The remaining amount of allocated Rs136 billion in these headings will be saved from this decision taken in early April.

The Nepal Army which was allocated a handsome amount of Rs15.1 billion to speed up works related to Kathmandu-Nijgadh Fast-Track, has returned Rs2.83 billion through the Defence Ministry.

Besides Nepal Army, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply is another agency that returned the second highest amount of budget. The ministry returned Rs726.25 million followed by the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation which surrendered Rs515.79 million.

Likewise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President’s Office, Election Commission, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen, National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission and Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Secretariat have also returned their unspent budget.