Nepal Continues ‘Asar Spending’ Tradition, 11% of Annual Budget Spent in Final Month

Nepal's long-criticized practice of concentrating government spending in the final month of the fiscal year continued in FY 2025/26 (2082/83) under the government led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen). According to the Office of the Financial Comptroller General, the government utilized only 79.04% of the Rs 1.964 trillion national budget, spending Rs 1.212 trillion despite the budget being managed by three finance ministers during the year. Capital expenditure remained particularly weak at just 44.51%, with only Rs 181.56 billion spent out of the allocated Rs 407.88 billion, while recurrent expenditure reached 88.3% and financial management spending stood at 90.8%. Notably, 11.13% of the total annual budget—equivalent to Rs 218.48 billion—was spent in the single month of Asar, including nearly 21% of total capital expenditure during that period alone. On the final day before government accounts were closed, the government spent Rs 33.16 billion in a single day, including Rs 18.39 billion in capital expenditure, underscoring the continued reliance on last-minute spending despite measures aimed at discouraging the practice.