By Ajay Chhetri, Kathmandu, Dec. 24: The imports revenue shot up by 44.02 per cent in the current fiscal year (FY).

Foreign Trade Statistics (FTS) of the Department of Customs showed that aggregate revenue from the imports shot up to Rs. 217.3 billion in the first five months on year on year (YoY) basis from Rs. 150.8 billion raised in the previous review period.

In the first five months, imports sprung up by 59.55 per cent to Rs. 838.4 billion up from 525.4 billion recorded in the previous review period. In effect, the imports revenue stoked up by 44.02 per cent to Rs. 66.6 billion in comparison to the previous review period.  

However, the statistics showed a slight decline in the percentage of revenue from imports in the first five months of the current FY compared to the previous review period. The proportion of revenue generated from the imports remained 25.92 per cent meanwhile the percentage was 28.71 in the same period of the previous FY.

In response to the reduction in the proportion of imports revenue in the current FY, the Information Officers of the Customs Department, Punya Bikram Khadka said that concession provided to a few commodities and quantity-based tariffs have affected imports revenue. He informed that tariff in commodities likes petroleum product is levied in quantity so the rising amount of imports value does not necessarily change the amount of its revenue.

The government raises imports revenue in the form of customs duty, excise duty, road construction fees, agriculture improvement fees, etc. So import revenue simultaneously hikes with the rise in imports amount.