Finance Ministry spokesman Somchai Sujjapongse yesterday said December revenues totalled Bt91.86 billion, 1.2 per cent higher than the official target.

Higher collection of excise duty levied on beer and cars helped the Excise Department collect Bt1.39 billion, which was 5.8 per cent higher than targeted.

However, the stronger baht reduced value-added tax collection, due to the lower value of imported goods, Somchai said. VAT receipts missed their target by 4.4 per cent, coming in at Bt36.2 billion.

The VAT shortfall led to flat receipts overall for the Revenue Department. Its total revenues were Bt65.47 billion, 0.3 per cent higher than estimated.

This was still 7 per cent above the figure for December 2005, however. The Customs Department collected revenues of Bt7.44 billion, 0.2 per cent lower than targeted and 15.3 per cent down on the same month a year earlier.

Deceleration of economic growth has apparently hit low-income groups quite hard, and manufacturers produced fewer motorcycles as a result of lower demand.

Collection of excise duty levied on motorcycle production was Bt152 million, missing the target by 23.2 per cent and 37 per cent down on the same month in 2005.

Revenues from state enterprises and other government agencies contributed Bt10.1 billion for the month - 37.3 per cent higher than targeted.

Government revenues in the first three months of the 2007 fiscal year - from September to December - reached Bt307.01 billion, 3.6 per cent higher than targeted and 16-per-cent growth compared with the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation