Govt Relaxes Public Expenditure Norms for Q4

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) In order to give a push to the economy, the government has relaxed norms governing public expenditure exceeding Rs 500 crore during the fourth quarter (January-March) of the current financial year.

Instructions to this effect were issued by the finance ministry through an office memorandum last week.

The relaxation, according to a memorandum, is aimed at providing a "fillip to public expenditure".

The relaxation is subject to strict adherence to the Single Nodal Agency (SNA)/Central Nodal Agency (CNA) guidelines issued by the Department of Expenditure.

"Financial Advisers shall monitor the releases to ensure that there is no idle parking of funds at any level and the funds are released on a just-in-time basis," the memorandum said.

According to the finance ministry, capital expenditure by central public sector enterprises touched about 52 per cent of the Budget target at Rs 3.79 lakh crore in the first half of the current fiscal.

This is higher than the capex by CPSEs in the April-September period of last fiscal. In the first half of the previous fiscal, the figure stood at Rs 2.85 lakh crore or 43 per cent of Budget estimates for the 2022-23 fiscal.

The full-year capex by CPSEs was estimated at Rs 6.62 lakh crore in the 2022-23 fiscal.