The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said on Wednesday that it missed its target collection for January on account of continued low price of imported oil in the international market.
Preliminary figures show the BOC generating a total of only P30.9 billion in January this year, reflecting growth of 5.2 percent from total collection of P29.4 billion in the same period last year.
“The collection effort of the BOC is adversely affected by the 41.2-percent drop in the weighted average price of crude and petro products, resulting in the decline of oil import value by 18.7 percent, despite an increase in volume of oil imports by 8.4 percent,” the BOC said.
The total collection of only P30.9 billion was 21.1 percent lower than the agency’s target collection of P39.2 billion for the month.
Despite this, both volume and value of imports in January increased by 19.5 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.
“It is also important to note that nondutiable value of imports due to free-trade agreements, import-promoting agencies and other special laws compose 70 percent of the total value of imports,” Cecile Soriano, customs director for financial services, said.
For nonoil imports, its volume and value increased by 23 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively. This resulted to increased BOC collection by 8.9 percent to P26.9 billion, from last year’s P24.7 billion.
Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina also said the bureau will continue to step up its efforts to meet its monthly revenue targets despite the continuing drop in oil prices.