Kathmandu, February 15:

The government has exceeded its revenue collection target for the seventh month of this fiscal year.

“The government collected Rs 72.26 billion till the end of the seventh month of this fiscal year,” said acting revenue secretary Krishnahari Baskota. The target was to collect Rs 69.25 billion till the end of seventh month. “But collection has exceeded by 104.35 per cent of the target,” he said.

Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai was earlier blamed for his ambitious revenue target in the budget for the fiscal year 2008-09, but till the seventh month of this fiscal year 2008-09 the collection has seen encouraging growth.

Though the government has not been able to spend on development activities, revenue collection has witnessed 32.5 per cent growth in comparison to the same period the last fiscal year. By the end of seventh month the last fiscal year, revenue collection was at Rs 54.52 billion. “Its a 32.5 per cent growth in comparison to the same period last fiscal year,” the acting revenue secretary said.

Revenue collection shot up by Rs 12.78 billion in a single month in the seventh month from Rs 59.48 billion in the sixth month of this fiscal year. Baskota also attributed the growth in the revenue collection to the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Source (VDIS) that saw a whopping Rs 1.42 billion come rolling in by February 13.