Govt collects meagre Rs13.35bn petroleum levy in 1QFY22

November 9, 2021 (MLN): The government only managed to collect Rs13.35 billion through the petroleum levy during the 1QFY22 as high international crude prices have narrowed collections from fuel prices, latest fiscal operations data for the quarter released by the Ministry of Finance showed on Tuesday.

Government has budgeted to collect Rs610 billion from petroleum levy for the entire fiscal year, targeting around Rs152.5bn from each quarter. Overall, during the quarter under review, government managed to earn non-tax revenue of Rs275.7bn, missing the Rs520bn target by a large margin.

However, the data showed government has surpassed the tax collection target during the first quarter by around Rs400bn at Rs1.8 trillion against a target of Rs1.4tr for the period. Largest year-on-year increase in tax collections came under indirect taxes where government collected Rs917bn, up 3.7% compared to 1QFY21.

Sales tax collections during 1QFY22 amounted to Rs624bn against 574bn last year; customs duties collections were reported at Rs221bn from Rs224bn 1QFY21.

On the other hand, the Finance Ministry data showed total expenditure during the first quarter witnessed a sharp decline of 38.6%YoY to Rs2.247tr compared to Rs3.66tr during the same period last year. Of this, current expenditure fell 34.4%YoY to Rs1.96 trillion from Rs2.9tr last year on account of 51% reduction in defence expenditure and 3.6% decline in mark-up payments.

Overall, the government posted primarily balance of Rs184.23bn or 0.3% of the GDP on the back of significant tax earnings during the quarter under review.

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