Money
Revenue jumps as cargo movement improves
Increased cargo movement through Dhangadi and Biratnagar customs points for the past week has boosted the government’s revenue collection after a three-month slump.Binod Bhandari & Mohan Budayar
Increased cargo movement through Dhangadi and Biratnagar customs points for the past week has boosted the government’s revenue collection after a three-month slump.
Customs officials said they were optimistic about meeting their annual revenue targets.
Hari Prasad Poudel, chief of the Kailali Customs Office, said revenue collection for this month (mid-November to mid-December) jumped 170 percent due to a substantial flow of goods and petroleum products over the past week.
Due to prolonged Tarai unrest and India’s trade embargo on Nepal, customs revenue had fallen sharply until November-end. “The protests against the new Constitution and India’s trade embargo severely affected trade,” said Man Bahadur BK, an official at the Kailali Customs Office.
Revenue collection between mid-July and mid-August had dropped to 78 percent of the monthly target, dipped further to 65 percent in the period between mid-August and mid-September.
However, improved consignments of petroleum products for the past week boosted the revenue. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has started increasing fuel supplies through the Far-west border point, said Shiva Raj Bhandari, assistant manager at Nepal Oil Corporation’s (NOC) Dhangadi regional office.
He said the imported fuel was being distributed to all the depots in the Far-west region. “We even dispatched six tankers of fuel to Kathmandu,” he said. “As of now, we have 600,000 litres of diesel and 55,000 litres of petrol in stock.”
Meanwhile, Biratnagar Customs Office too has been witnessing a rise in cargo movement. The office has met the revenue target for the period between mid-November to mid-December, its chief Krishna Bahadur Basnet said. During the review period, the office collected Rs1.65 billion in revenues.
Shipments through Biratnagar started to improve since Thursday, when 53 fuel tankers (28 diesel, 11 petrol and 14 LPG bullets) and 153 cargo trucks entered Nepal.
On Wednesday, 32 diesel, 8 petrol and 1 LPG bullet tankers, besides 297 cargo trucks, had crossed the border.