Revenue collection may fall short of target

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Ambitious target without much preparation is going to make government’s revenue mobilisation exercise fall short of its target.

It seems the government has not done enough preparation while setting the revenue target, said an official at the revenue department.”Birgunj office is one of the key customs offices that has failed to achieve the target,” he said, adding that the revenue from the Tatopani customs office may exceed the target.

The government has set a revenue target of Rs 216 billion for this fiscal year. Of the total, Rs 98.59 billion is expected from customs duty. It set a target of Rs 52 billion from Birgunj Customs Office alone. This seems impossible to achieve, the source said.”

The government has collected Rs 67 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 60 billion in the same period of last fiscal year,” the source said.

In order to meet the target from custom offices across the country, the department has to collect Rs 31 billion within the remaining three months of the current fiscal year, which again is a tough call.

Slower import of major goods is the primary reason for revenue collection to meet the target.

Imports of vehicle, iron rod and clinker along with others have dropped significantly.The main source of revenue is import, which has been affected by the decline in import of major products.

By the seventh month of the current fiscal, import has declined by 0.1 per cent, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

“Even though the import has declined, the revenue collection from the custom offices has increased by 13 per cent compared to last fiscal year but it is not enough to meet the target,” he said.