Customs revenue clocks in at nearly $2.3B in 2021
Customs revenue clocks in at nearly $2.3B in 2021
The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) reported that it collected 9.2957 trillion riel ($2.295 billion) in revenue last year, down by 5.1 per cent from $2.419 billion in 2020.
The largest sources of customs and excise revenue were vehicles and machinery (3.9988 trillion riel; 43 per cent) and petrochemical products (2.1571 trillion riel; 23.2 per cent), with construction materials and other products accounting for nearly 3.14 trillion riel or 33.8 per cent, department data show.
Speaking at the GDCE’s annual meeting on February 10, director-general Kun Nhim noted that revenue came in at 97.1 per cent of the target set in the Law on Financial Management for 2021.
He said exports of garments, non-garment manufacturing products and agricultural goods respectively clocked in at $11.3896 billion, $4.5421 billion and $2.8178 billion, up by 15.2 per cent, 44.2 per cent and 39.5 per cent.
Hong Vanak, an economist at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post that state revenue is almost entirely dependent on customs and tax revenue collection, so a decline in both could affect expenditures of the state.
“Cambodia has suffered from the Covid-19 crisis, and people have reduced spending on non-essential goods, but customs revenue figures are only slightly lower. And with tax revenue from vehicles close to one billion, this means most people are still able to use or exchange their cars,” he said.
Barring a major outbreak of Covid-19 driven by Omicron or a newer variant, the stability of tax revenue collection is likely to return to normal in this year, with the potential for more positive outcomes.
Despite the dip in customs revenue, Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth chalked up last year’s figures as “good results” given the heightened risk of spreading Covid-19 that prevailed in 2021.
He urged the GDCE to continue to promote the “strict and effective implementation” of tax collection, and coordinate with the relevant authorities on preventive measures against tax evasion.
Vehicle import duties were adjusted last year as per the minister’s proposition, in a bid to revive the market and buttress the logistics sector after customs clearance revenue on vehicles fell by 40 per cent in 2020 from a year earlier.
In a February 1 letter addressed to Prime Minister Hun Sen and signed by Pornmoniroth, the finance ministry contended that while the adjustment could hive off 122.54 billion riel in customs revenue, the move would bolster demand for imports beyond last year’s levels and partially offset the perceived losses.
