Slowdown in car imports hits State budget revenue

The State budget was hit by falling imports of products with high import revenue and tax, including petroleum, cars and motorbikes.

Customs statistics showed the value of imported cars in the first quarter tumbled by 51 per cent, causing a loss of VND4.36 trillion ($207.6 million) to the State budget revenue. The decline in the import value surged to 57.6 per cent by the end of April.

Domestic auto production and trading also brought a hefty loss to State budget revenue. The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said the auto market has been falling with only 17,890 cars sold in the first quarter, down 37 per cent over the same period last year. The decline means tax collected from locally manufactured cars also dropped.

The General Department of Customs forecast the import value of cars would continue to fall in the wake of Government restrictions on the import of luxury goods. The State budget revenue therefore would continue decreasing.

Besides cars, all products with high import values and taxes dropped in import value in the first four months. Oil and petrol declined 34 per cent, crude oil and coal by 14.7 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.

The Ministry of Finance said four-month import-export revenue reached VND63.5 trillion ($3.02 billion), down roughly VND1.3 trillion ($61.9 million) against the same period last year.

In the review period, the State budget revenue was mostly generated from domestic sources. By the end of April, the total State budget revenue hit VND234.39 trillion ($11.16 billion), or 31.7 per cent of the estimate. Of the total, domestic revenue was VND152.81 trillion ($7.27 billion), rising 2.1 per cent year-on-year.