Economic slowdown causes government revenue to fall short

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The Ministry of Finance has announced that the economic slowdown resulted in the state revenue falling short of the target by 8.8 per cent in the 2014 fiscal year which ended September 30.

It expects economic growth will bring higher revenues next year.

Krisda Chinavicharana, director of the Fiscal Policy Office in his capacity as Finance Ministry spokesman, said the net revenue of the government in the 2014 fiscal year (October 2013 through September 2014) was Bt2.07 trillion, below the projected target by Bt201.08 billion or 8.8 per cent.

He explained that lower imports cut the collection of tariffs and the import-related value-added tax.

In addition, the domestic economic slowdown limited the growth of operational results in the private sector and thus the collected corporate income tax was lower than expected.

Lower domestic demand for automobiles dropped revenues from the excise tax on automobiles and oil taxes.

The extended discount on the diesel tax to relieve the public’s cost of living caused tax revenue to fall short of its target by Bt28 billion.

However, contributions from state enterprises and other agencies exceeded their targets.

Mr Krisda said that the reduced state revenue resulted from the slowdowns of the national and the global economies.

He commented that the improving national economy should increase the government’s revenue next year.