Government Spends Only Eight Per Cent of Capital Budget in Five Months

The government’s capital expenditure remained sluggish in the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY 2025/26), with spending reaching only eight per cent of the annual allocation by mid-December.

According to statistics released by the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), the government spent Rs 33.87 billion under the capital expenditure heading as of December 15. The government has allocated a total of Rs 407.88 billion for capital expenditure in the current fiscal year.

Spending under current expenditure also remained modest. Of the Rs 1,180.98 billion allocated for recurrent expenses, only 33.7 per cent—equivalent to Rs 398 billion—had been spent by December 15.

Similarly, under the financial management heading, the government has allocated Rs 375 billion, of which Rs 132 billion, or 35.32 per cent, had been spent during the review period.

The government’s overall expenditure by mid-December stood at 28.74 per cent of the annual budget. Of the total budget of Rs 1964 billion for the current fiscal year, the government has so far spent Rs 564 billion.

Revenue collection also lagged behind targets. The government aims to collect Rs 1533 billion in revenue in the current fiscal year, but managed to collect only Rs 414 billion, or 27 per cent of the target, in the first five months.

The government had set a revenue collection target of Rs 520.44 billion for the first five months of the fiscal year.

Likewise, tax revenue collection remained weak during the November 17–December 15 period, with the government collecting Rs 80.27 billion against a target of Rs 95.20 billion.

As of mid-December, the government had achieved 28.83 per cent of its annual tax revenue target, amounting to Rs 382.23 billion, and 15.59 per cent of the non-tax revenue target, totalling Rs 24.70 billion.

The government has set a target to receive foreign grants worth Rs 53.45 billion in the current fiscal year, but has received only 9.58 per cent, or Rs 5.12 billion, so far.

With expenditure outpacing revenue, the budget deficit has widened to around Rs 150 billion, as government spending has exceeded revenue by Rs 149.56 billion as of December 15. -- RSS