The department of the Nepal Government under the Ministry of Finance, responsible for tax collection, Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has collected 78.82 percent of the total estimated tax collection target in the first 6 months of the current fiscal year.

According to the IRD, the tax authority collected NRs. 221 billion as internal revenue against the estimated NRs. 281 billion by mid-January which is 78.82 percent of the total target.

The figures suggest that the government would struggle to meet revenue targets in the current fiscal year as the government had made strict rules regarding the import, earlier this fiscal year amid declining foreign exchange reserves, which also affected the revenue generated from imports.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has put forward various schemes to reduce recurrent expenditures in the current fiscal year.

Issuing the ‘Recurrent Expenditure Reduction Standards, 2079’, Deputy PM and Minister for Finance Bishnu Paudel has put forward points to reduce the current administrative expenses of government agencies by 15 percent.

According to the new standards, domestic as well as foreign visits, other than the essential ones, will be discouraged. Similarly, the engine oil and lubricant of two-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles will be changed during servicing only if necessary.

The government bodies will not keep stocks of items, except for very necessary ones. Printing will be reduced and information will be placed on the websites.

The offices or the buildings of government agencies will be used to conduct seminars and training while such programs will be conducted only if necessary. Likewise, the usage of ACs, heaters and fans is discouraged.

The government introduced a budget of Rs1.79 trillion for the current fiscal year, mostly targeted at elections, which has put the financial bodies under significant pressure.