FM Sharma directs customs officials to work hard

KATHMANDU, MARCH 13 : Finance Minister Janandan Sharma has directed the customs officials to work proactively so as to meet the set the revenue mobilisation targets. He issued such a command while addressing a seminar held at  the office of the Department Customs in the capital.

"Of course, the government has taken some restrictive measures regarding the import trade. But, such measures will not affect the revenue mobilisation targets  if all the employees of the deparment act proactively and diligently," he said.

Minister Sharma  added that the current provision of keeping margin amount while importing will be nulified once the economic situation of the country starts to improve. "The government understands that the very provision is hampering the revenue sector. But , it will be annuled as soon as the economic woes get minimised."  The Nepal Rasra Bank on December 20 made it mandarory for the importers to keep 100 percent margin amount during the course of opening a letter of credit to import certain goods.  The motive behind  this was help address economic woes by conserving declining foreign reserves.  

According to the Customs Department, the revenue collection in the first seven months of the current fiscal year exceeded the set target despite the curb in the imprt trade. During the review period, the department mobilised Rs 308 billion in revenue while the target for the same had been set at Rs 305 billion.