Customs misses revenue target in June

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) – the government’s second largest revenue-generating agency – failed to hit its revenue goal in June despite a 17.5% year-on-year growth.

BOC was able to collect P27.33 billion ($630.45 million*) last month, higher than the P23.25 billion ($536.33 million) generated a year ago, the bureau said Monday, July 21.

However, it missed its June target of P33.29 billion ($767.9 million).

The January-June revenues, mainly import duties collected from importers, amounted to P173.4 billion ($4 billion), lower than the P198.95 billion ($4.59 billion) goal for the 6-month period, but 19.5% higher than the P145.13 billion ($3.35 billion) collected last year.

10 ports miss their targets

Out of 17 ports, 10 of those failed to meet their respective targets for last month, BOC date showed.

The Manila International Container Port was only able to collect P7.34 billion ($169.30 million) in June, lower than its goal of P9.4 billion ($216.83 million).

The Port of Manila and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) also failed to meet their targets, as the ports generated P4.55 billion ($104.95 million) and P2.44 billion ($56.28 million), respectively.

The Port of Manila targeted a June revenue of P6.93 billion ($159.85 million) and P2.89 billion ($66.67 million).

The oil ports of Limay and Batangas also underperformed last month.

The Port of Limay’s collections amounted to P3.26 billion ($75.22 million), slightly lower than its P3.56 billion ($82.13 million) target.

The Port of Batangas had a target of P6.06 billion ($139.81 million), but actual revenues amounted to only P5.66 billion ($130.60 million).

Other ports that posted shortfalls in June were San Fernando, Legaspi, Clark, Tacloban and Surigao.

Surpassing targets

On the bright side, the ports of Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Subic, Aparri, Cebu, and Davao surpassed their collection targets, on the back of improved economic activity and on-ground reforms, BOC said.

The Port of Iloilo’s collection reached P133.8 million ($3.09 million), versus its target of P68.5 million ($1.59 million).

Subic posted a total of P1 billion ($23.09 million), above its target of P694.8 million ($16.04 million).

Aparri reached P329.3 million ($7.6 million), far exceeding its P25.8 million ($595,325) target. And the port of Cebu collected P1.02 billion ($23.53 million) against its P1.01 billion ($23.30 million) target.

The Port of Davao in Mindanao also exceeded its P623 million ($14.39 million) target with a collection of P811.5 million ($18.72 million).

For July, BOC is tasked to collect P35 billion ($807.4 million) by the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee. – Rappler.com

*$1=P43.34