KATHMANDU (AFP) - Months of political deadlock have plunged Nepal into a budget crisis that could leave 500,000 workers unpaid from this week in the latest sign of the country's woes since civil war ended in 2006.Nepal has not had a parliament or fully functioning government since June and has been surviving on emergency funds which run out on November 15 unless rival parties agree on a new budget.With no deal likely, the Maoist caretaker administration faces being unable to pay teachers, nurses, police and soldiers."The budget plays a critical role in the remuneration for hundreds of thousands of civil servants," Kathmandu-based economics analyst Gokarna Awasthi told AFP."Pensions for the elderly haven't been paid and development activities are at a standstill. In over two dozen hill districts, the economy is dependent on government expenditure. Small businesses cannot survive without it."November 20 marks the sixth anniversary of the peace deal that ended the decade-long Maoist insurgency which claimed more than 16,000 lives.A tentative calm returned after the Maoists swept to power in 2008 elections but Nepalese politics has been in flux ever since, with rival parties swapping control of the government several times.In May, lawmakers failed after years of wrangling to meet a deadline to write the country's first post-war constitution. Parliament was then dissolved, leaving the nation with no government and no elections currently scheduled.The Nepalese voted in an assembly in 2008 to draw up the constitution for a new social and political order in a nation that remains deeply impoverished and riven with inequalities.The country has more than 100 different ethnic groups, and marginalised lower castes are pushing for more power and increased access to jobs and education after the abolition of Nepal's Hindu monarchy four years ago.Ethnically based organisations with a huge array of varying demands have organised increasingly violent protests, with bomb attacks in Kathmandu and in the southern plains in the past year.A hardline, nationalist breakaway faction of the Maoist former rebels also recently forced a shutdown of cinemas showing Indian films and announced it would build up its own army "if needed in the near future".While the Maoists want the creation of up to 14 states named after ethnic groups, their rivals say dividing Nepal along such lines would fuel unrest.Despite months of talks between the main parties, there is no sign of an end to the damaging power vacuum.Premier Baburam Bhattarai's caretaker administration was unable to win support for its 450 billion-rupee ($5.2 billion) budget in July and has since been attending to little more than the most urgent functions of government."The incomplete financial plan has greatly affected the economy," said political analyst Chandrashekhar Nepali in a commentary for the Kathmandu Post."Development projects and capital expenditure are lower, public sector employees are worried about not getting paid (and) the security forces have raised concern over lack of funds to replenish their stock."Local authorities are not getting enough money to maintain basic public services, development partners are unable to disburse the money that has been pledged and the private sector is losing confidence."In the past four months, the government has allocated just four billion rupees to development projects, a tenth of its normal spend.The stand-off comes amid a growing rift between Bhattarai and President Ram Baran Yadav, a former leader in the main opposition Nepali Congress, with the head of state refusing to endorse legislation forwarded by the government.Local media have reported that Yadav has considered firing Bhattarai and appointing a new prime minister, with the government having failed to organise fresh elections that were previously promised for November 22."We cannot allow our country to slide into a bigger crisis. We will present a full budget, we are working to submit it," Maoist spokesman Agni Sapkota told AFP.