Finance Ministry strives to collect more revenue
Finance Ministry strives to collect more revenue
Revenue collection should improve this year since the government imposed a number of measures to boost national income, a senior financial official has confirmed.
Although there was a revenue shortfall in the first quarter of this year, the figure was an 18 percent improvement compared to the same period last year.
Deputy Minister of Finance Mr Bounchom Uobonpaseuth told Vientiane Times on Friday that the ministry is striving to collect the revenue target approved by the National Assembly despite challenges.
�Our government has put stronger measures in place to fight corruption and promote transparency, aiming to boost national revenue,� he said.
As a result of the government's fiscal reforms revenue collected in the last quarter of last year (October-December) increased by 9 percent year-on-year, indicating a positive signal for the government to further fulfil its task.
�Our mechanisms are being streamlined; we collected more revenue in the last quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year. I'm sure that we will do better in the rest of the year,� Mr Bounchom said.
According to the Ministry of Finance's recent report, revenue collected from January to March attained 4,621 billion kip, equal to 19.3 percent of the yearly plan.
Of the total 4,621 billion kip, domestic income amounted to 4, 183 billion kip, equating to 77.7 percent for the quarter and 19.4 percent of the yearly plan.
For the whole of 2017, the government plans to collect 23,801 billion kip in revenue with expenditure set at 32,262 billion kip.
Since early this year, the Ministry of Finance has started to re-in spect and clearly define sources of revenue to enable the country to accomplish its 2017 revenue collection target.
Mr Bounchom said this should have been completed in March but was not due to various factors. He assumed Laos would also have more revenue sources due to the growth of the business sector.
More hydropower projects have commenced and been completed which should serve as new sources for national revenue.
Since early last year, the government has intensified its battle against corruption particularly in sectors related to revenue collection and budget expenditure.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Somdy Duangdy on April 10 issued a decision imposing 10 prohibitions that officials must follow aiming to prevent them from involvement in any misconduct or corruption.
The minister has moved to prohibit his officials from intentionally delaying the consideration process of any document submitted or creating any difficulty in the process for personal gain or benefit of family members, relatives and friends both directly or indirectly.
The Ministry of Finance also agreed it was important to employ electronic systems in revenue collection for transparency and accountability as well as to help close loopholes for officials' corruption.
