Customs collections fall in April

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) total collections in April dropped below target as lower global oil prices hit the agency’s revenue performance for the period.

The April collection of P28.14 billion ($625.09 million) was 24.1% below the goal of P37.35 billion ($829.72 million). It is also 8.5% lower than the P30.76 billion ($683.33 million) collected in the same month in 2014, data  from the BOC released on Wednesday, June 17, showed.

The BOC added that despite a 6.7% increase in the volume of oil imports, the actual value fell to P5.44 billion ($120.80 million) from P9.14 billion ($202.96 million) in 2014, due to a 45% drop in the weighted average values of crude oil and petroleum products.  

The BOC failed to achieve its revenue goals for 2014.

In its April meeting, the Development and Budget Coordination Committee agreed to reduce the BOC’s goal by P20 billion ($444.28 million) to P436.4 billion ($9.69 billion), from the earlier target of P456.4 billion ($10.14 billion).

The lower collection target was brought by the downward revision in the inter-agency body’s forecast for oil prices, as economic managers cut their forecast for Dubai crude oil to a range of $50-$70 a barrel this year, lower than the earlier forecast of $80-$110.

Collections from non-oil imports grew by 5% year-on-year from P21.62 billion ($480.15 million) in 2014 to P22.70 billion ($504.22 million) in April 2015, driven by the increase in both its volume and value by 12% and 2.6%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the BOC’s collections for the first 4 months of 2015 amounted to P120.38 billion ($2.67 billion), 14.4% lower than the target of P140.71 billion ($3.13 billion) during the said period.

Year-to-date revenues, however, saw an increase of 2.6% over the P117.27 billion ($2.61 million) collected from January to April 2014.

President Benigno Aquino III appointed businessman and former customs chief Alberto Lina as BOC commissioner, who promised to maintain the reorganization and reform in the tax-collecting agency. – Rappler.com

$1 = P45.00

Oil price drop concept image from Shutterstock