August 26: Customs offices under the Ministry of Finance have increased the target of revenue collection in the current fiscal year. Although the revenue target for the current fiscal year has increased, the volume of foreign trade has been declining.

As the volume of foreign trade has decreased, the officials of the Department of Customs are not confident that the revenue target will be met. Due to the tightening of imports to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves, import business has declined obviousbly.

Concerned officials are expecting a decline in revenue collection from customs duty due to the decline in foreign trade. In such a situation, the target of the customs offices cannot be fulfilled, the officials argue.

Signs of this have already been seen in the first month of the current year at Birgunj Customs, which is the largest port in terms of import and export of the country. This customs could not collect revenue as per the target in the first month of this year, mid-July to mid-August. According to the data, the customs office collected about 15 percent less revenue than the target.

Chief Customs Officer Harihar Paudel informed that they had set a target of collecting Rs 15.20 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year  but only Rs 12.98 billion were raised. The revenue target was not met due to the decrease in business.

If this is the case, the target will not be fulfilled in any month of the year, Paudel told New Business Age. This year, both imports and exports from Birgunj Customs have decreased compared to last month. On the basis of prices, the total trade volume has decreased by 12 percent. Out of this, import has decreased by 5 percent and export by 54 percent, according to customs data.

Vehicles, fuel and industrial raw materials are mainly imported through Birgunj checkpoint. Due to the ban on vehicle import and banks stopping loans, even the vehicles imported under old LC have piled up at the customs.

As refined oil is the main export, its export is affected due to the import policy adopted by India. Along with the decrease in oil exports, the import of its raw materials has also decreased. Substantial quantities of semi-processed oil of soybean, palm and sunflower used to come through this channel.

Birgunj Customs has set a target of collecting Rs 260 billion revenue for the current year. Last year, the customs office had a target of collecting Rs 203 billion and had collected Rs 1 billion more than the target. The target for the current year is 28 percent more than last year, said Paudel, head of Birgunj Customs.