Revenue collection misses the target by 10% due to Covid-19
The government’s revenue collection in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2021 – October 2020 to July 2021 – was Bt1.9 trillion, lower than the estimated Bt216.8 billion, or 10.2 per cent, which is about the same level as the year before, the Finance Ministry reported on Wednesday.
“The Revenue Department missed the target by Bt142.7 billion or 9 per cent,” Fiscal Policy Office director Kulaya Tantitemit said.
“Meanwhile, the Excise Department missed its target by Bt67.5 billion or 12.9 per cent. State enterprise revenue also missed the target by Bt24.2 billion or 16.5 per cent.”
Kulaya said the Customs Department showed an improving trend of revenue collection due to an increase in exports and imports as the global economy started to recover from the pandemic.
“The impact from Covid-19 and lockdown measures resulted in decreased economic activity, which led to lower-than-expected revenue collection,” she said.
“The Finance Ministry estimates revenue collection for fiscal year 2021 will miss the target by 10 per cent or by about Bt200 billion. However, this should pose no problem as the government has already borrowed extra money to cover expenses,” she added.