The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P210.18 billion from January to May, 16.5% less than the P251.71 billion it took in year-on-year, and 1.56% short of the P213.51-billion target for the five-month period.
BOC mother agency Department of Finance (DOF) blamed the decline in revenues to economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down a large part of the Philippine economy from mid-March. Restrictions have since been eased starting June.
For May alone, the customs bureau collected P30.01 billion from P58.17 billion in the same month last year, representing a 48.41% decline, according to DOF. The latest revenue figure is also 9.96% short of the monthly target of P33.33 billion.
BOC has been recording declines in revenue collections since March this year, with April posting a year-on-year decline of 32.56%.
The customs bureau is tasked to collect P541.703 billion for the entire 2019, 26% less than the initial P731-billion target following an adjustment approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.
DBCC projects that the Philippine economy will contract by 2% to 3.4% in 2020. National Economic and Development Authority estimates also suggest that the potential impact of the pandemic on the economy could reach P2 trillion or about 9.4% of gross domestic product this year.
The country’s expected revenue collection for this year–including revenue from BOC sister company Bureau of Internal Revenue–has been revised to P2.61 trillion or 13.6% of GDP. The figure is lower by P560.5 billion or 17.7% compared with the P3.17 trillion program approved by the DBCC on March 27, 2020.
