Okhaldhunga sees freezing of Rs 793 million budget from FY 2022/23

Okhaldhunga. Okhaldhunga, a district in the Koshi province, has reported that its development budget for the fiscal year 2080-81 (2022-23) has been frozen.

According to the District Treasury Controller Office, over Rs 793 million allocated for development purposes remained unspent last fiscal year. Office Chief Manoj Kumar Joshi stated that the unspent budget will be returned to both the provincial and federal governments.

For the last fiscal year, Okhaldhunga received a total of over Rs 8.54 billion in allocations from both federal and provincial sources. This included over Rs 4.78 billion from the federal government for current expenditures and over Rs 1.18 billion for capital expenditures.

Additionally, the provincial government allocated over Rs 627.25 million for current expenditures and Rs 1.55 billion for capital expenditures. The expenditure of the budget at the local level in the district has been decreasing each year.

Though a discouraging scenario of the expenditures of development projects, several projects here are in limbo due to a lack of funds. Key infrastructure projects, including national pride projects such as the Likhu Corridor and Molu Corridor, along with various road and bridge construction projects have remained incomplete for years.