To ensure the timely release of funds and spending quality as the current fiscal comes to a close this month, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) has asked finance heads of all departments to keep bill pendency to the bare minimum to avoid the last-minute rush of expenditure.
In another memorandum, the CGA asked accounting officers to keep close track of receipts (tax, non-tax and disinvestment receipts), expenditures and involving fiscal position of the central government in the month of March, on day-to-day basis.
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The Centre’s total expenditure was revised to Rs 41.87 trillion for FY23, an increase of 6% over the budget estimate of Rs 39.45 trillion for the year, to meet additional expenditure on food and fertiliser subsidies.
“As the final batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the financial year 2022-23 is also likely to be issued in the month of March. It needs to be ensured that processes involved at every stage are planned and staggered in a way that there is no system overload and the system is able to handle the increased volume of sanctions and bills in the closing days of March,” the CGA said.
The CGA asked CAs (Controller of Accounts)/CCAs/Pr. CCAs of ministries/departments to monitor the pendency position of bills at the end of each day through Public Finance Management System (PFMS) reports and to keep them at bare minimum.
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Ministries and departments were also sensitised to prepare re-appropriation proposals in time. The programme division of ministries and departments were told to complete the processing of sanctions expeditiously so that process of bill preparation can start on the same day and forwarded to Pay and Accounts Office (PAO) through PFMS.
Sufficient time should be available with PAO to carry out scrutiny of bills and ensure necessary pre-check requisites being the last stage of release of payment, it said.