PAC urges policy and practical measures to address overdraft issues

Kathmandu: The Public Accounts Committee has emphasized the need to address both policy and practical challenges related to overdraft management.

In a discussion held in today’s meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives, Committee Chair Bharat Bahadur Khadka stressed the need for necessary policy and legal reforms to resolve overdraft issues by obtaining required information from various government agencies. “We have taken information about the situation of overdraft with various government agencies in today’s meeting of the committee,” he said. “We will move forward by holding in-depth discussions with the concerned agencies and doing effective homework to reduce overdraft.”

On the occasion, Nepal Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel said that the Nepal Army has set a target of settling 60 percent of the remaining overdraft in the current fiscal year, although only 11 percent has been completed so far. He said, “The Nepal Army has been in arrears of over Rs 5.3 billion under various headings and sectors for years. There are some technical issues in the settlement of the outstanding amounts under the Kathmandu-Terai/Madhes Expressway. We are trying to complete the necessary procedures and settle the remaining outstanding amounts.”

He further stated that the target is to settle about 15 percent of the outstanding amounts by mid-Ashad of the current fiscal year.

Rajendra Prasad Mishra, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment, said that out of Rs 6.35 billion in outstanding amounts under the previous Ministry of Agriculture, 40.28 percent has been settled so far. He also said that out of Rs 560 million outstanding amounts under the previous Ministry of Forests, only 16 percent has been settled.

Binod Kumar Bhattarai, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said that there is only Rs 206 million outstanding amount to be recovered under the ministry. “The Ministry of Law had zero uncollected amounts in the last fiscal year. However, since the ministry currently has very little outstanding amount, we will make it zero within this fiscal year,” he said.

Secretary of the Federal Parliament Secretariat Dr. Rojnath Pandey said that the uncollected amount of the Secretariat is Rs 24.061 million, noting that claims for lawmakers’ medical expenses were processed across different fiscal years.

Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai said that various bodies under the ministry have outstanding amounts of Rs 3.8 billion and that there is a plan to settle 43 percent of these by the end of the current fiscal year. He said that 30 percent has already been settled so far.

Registrar of the Supreme Court Bhadrakali Pokharel informed that an action plan has been prepared to settle outstanding amounts under the Supreme Court. Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Labor and Employment Dr. Deepak Kafle said that 22 percent of the Rs 990 million outstanding funds under the ministry have been settled. He also stated that more than Rs 550 million remains under the Foreign Employment Board alone.

Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Pramila Bajracharya said there were about Rs 170 million in outstanding funds under the former ministry. Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications Laxmi Kumari Basnet said that out of Rs 30.29 billion outstanding funds under various headings, 5.64 percent (Rs 1.65 billion) has been settled, with the highest amount under the Telecommunications Authority exceeding Rs 16 billion.

Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Kedarnath Sharma said the ministry aims to clear about 30 percent of its outstanding funds in the current fiscal year. According to the 63rd report of the Auditor General, the total outstanding amount stands at Rs 755.17 billion.