KATHMANDU, Sept 14: The government has resumed its payment system from Sunday, paving a way to provide salaries to civil servants along with settlement of payments to contractors.
Following the Gen Z movement that started last Monday, the government had suspended its payment services for five days. Om Prasad Rijal, information officer at the Financial Comptroller General Office (FCGO), said that the payments have resumed from Sunday.
With the restart of the payments, all the employees who receive salaries and allowances from the government treasury will receive their salaries and allowances before Dashain, while the construction sector will also receive payments for their completed works.
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According to the Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal (FCAN), around two million workers are associated with the construction works across the country. With only one week left for the start of Dashain, the resumption of the government payment is expected to provide respite to the employees along with easing cash flow in the economy.
Meanwhile, the government has also resumed revenue collection by bringing into operation most of the customs points. According to the Ministry of Finance, 14 offices under the Inland Revenue Department and five customs offices were vandalized by the protestors during the Gen Z movement last week. Of them, four offices of the Inland Revenue Department and four customs offices were partially damaged.
Tanka Prasad Pandey, spokesperson for the MoF, informed that the offices except for some of the inland revenue offices that were completely damaged have been brought to operation.
The records with the FCGO show that the government collected revenue worth Rs 144.58 billion as of Saturday. Similarly, the government’s total expenditure stood at Rs 120.78 billion.
According to the FCGO, the government treasury appears to be in a surplus in the first two months of the current fiscal year. However, the government will have to bear heavy financial liabilities paying for the salaries and Dashain allowances to the government employees along with the contractors’ payments.
