3rd quarter revenue up by 30pc: MoF

KABUL‘s revenue from taxes and custom duty increased by 30 percent in the first nine months of 2011, compared to the same period last year, a Ministry of Finance (MoF) official said on Monday.

The third-quarter revenue stood at 81.4 billion afghanis, with 50 percent coming from custom duty and the rest from taxes and other sources, the ministry spokesman told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Aziz Shams linked the increase to good leadership in customs offices, transparency in tax collections, convincing traders into paying taxes and the capacity building of the officials concerned through training programmes.

He hoped the revenue would further rise until the end of the ongoing fiscal year. The IMF has approved a $133.6 million loan for Afghanistan to help it maintain economic stability and begin laying the basis for fiscal sustainability and economic growth.

Endorsed by the IMF’s Executive Board on November 14, the programme contains measures to address corruption, strengthen the banking system and improve revenue collections.

Shams said the revenue should reach 98 billion afghanis to meet the IMF conditionality. He was optimistic the figures would cross 100 billion afghanis by the end of the year. The country’s revenue was 80.3 billion afghanis last year.

ma/mud