KATHMANDU.

The Karnali State Government has fallen short of around Rs 15 million in its target to collect revenue of Rs 250 million in the last fiscal year 2019/20. In the last fiscal year, the state government had collected around Rs 235 million in revenue, according to the Ministry of Financial Affairs and Planning of the Karnali State.

Ministry’s secretary Ghanashyam Upadhyay shared, “The revenue collection was affected by COVID-19 outbreak in the country and subsequent lockdown ordered nationwide to contain the spread of the deadly infection.” The federal government had ordered nation-wide lockdown from March 24 to July 21 this year in an effort to prevent and control the COVID-19.

Generally, revenue is collected mostly in the last quarter of the fiscal year. Furthermore, the Karnali state could not achieve its target in revenue collection due to the decrease in the source of internal income and the local units failing to pay the revenue to the state. The local units ought to pay 40 percent of the revenue they collect to the State government.