Less than 11 percent of the development budget has been spent in the first half of the current fiscal year, underscoring weak progress in capital expenditure.
According to the Ministry of Finance, of the more than Rs 400 billion allocated for capital projects, only Rs 43.6 billion had been utilized by January 10—just 10.69 percent of the earmarked amount.
In comparison, Rs 53.58 billion, or 15.21 percent of the capital budget, had been spent during the same period last year, indicating an even slower pace of development expenditure this year.
Officials partly attribute the delays to disruptions caused by recent “Gen Z” protests and the termination of underperforming contracts, which hindered project implementation.
Ministry spokesperson Tank Prasad Pandey said that while recurrent expenditure is largely on track, capital spending has lagged behind. He noted that administrative mechanisms were disrupted for about one and a half months, affecting budget execution, but expressed confidence that spending will improve in the coming months.
He added that delays by contractors and recent legal measures concerning underperforming contracts are expected to support faster project completion going forward.
Construction sector representatives also highlighted implementation challenges. Ravi Singh, president of the Construction Entrepreneurs Federation, said some projects were selected hastily in the past, creating execution difficulties for contractors.
