Customs revenue grows 18 pct

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Revenue collected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the first seven months this year grew 18 percent year-on-year to P203.86 billion ($4.67 billion), according to BOC today.

For July alone, total revenues reached 30.46 billion pesos, up 9 percent over the same month last year, said BOC.

Despite operational disruptions brought by Typhoon Glenda and congestion at the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port-the country's largest ports in import volume and revenues, average daily revenue collection rose to 1.44 billion pesos from 1.2 billion pesos in July 2013.  

Importation of finished petroleum products, which accounted for about 17 percent of total revenues, grew 34.5 percent year-on-year in July. Crude oil imports expanded 20 percent, accounting for about 11 percent of total BOC revenues.

With increasing domestic demands for cars, importation of motor vehicles, which account for 15 percent of total BOC collection, expanded for 22 percent.

BOC expected to collect a revenue of 33.5 billion pesos in August.