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By Chino S. Leyco, Reporter
Higher oil prices and imports boost Finance’s
expectation that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will exceed its
collection goal this year.
In a document, the Department of Finance (DOF)
said Customs’ emerging collection could reach P269 billion, or P15
billion higher than its P254-billion target for the year. The latest
estimate is equivalent to 3.5 percent of the economy.
DOF said Customs is likely to exceed existing
collection target amid skyrocketing commodity prices and higher
import assumptions by the country’s economic managers.
Under the country’s macroeconomic assumptions,
Dubai crude is expected to average $115 to P125 a barrel this year,
while imports are seen at P$63.3 billion.
The latest estimate came after Finance admitted
that Customs import data are inconsistent with those of other
agencies.
Citing oil imports, Finance Secretary Margarito
Teves said, “In my last command conference, we saw the discrepancy
between the data provided by the National Statistics Office, which
showed larger import for oil, and therefore there is room for the
BOC to take a closer look and not rely entirely on the data from
their different port collectors.”
With this development, the finance department
said it will tap other sources to determine whether it has more
outstanding duties that remain uncollected.
“We’re starting with oil and, hopefully, we
can get more information coming from abroad such as from our trade
attaches and institutions that are performing this type of
function,” Teves said.
Customs collection grew 27 percent to P117
billion, an increase of 27 percent year on year.
In January to June, the government posted a
budget deficit of P18 billion, a 56-percent improvement from P41
billion short in the same period last year.
Total revenue at end-June amounted to P570
billion, higher by 8 percent than the programmed P561 billion for
the period, while expenditures reached P588 billion, 15-percent
lower than the projected P602-billion disbursement.
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