During the six months, about VND163.173 trillion (US$7 billion) was collected for the State budget in the city, the country’s biggest economic hub, equivalent to 40.2 percent of this year’s target and down 14.4 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, budget spending was estimated at VND29,672 trillion, up 22.2 percent.
Director of the Statistics Office Huynh Van Hung said this is the first time the State budget revenue of the city plummeted while spending soared in the first half of a year.
He attributed this phenomenon to the fact that a majority of local businesses and economic activities were affected by COVID-19 while many policies like tax reduction and tax payment deadline extension have been carried out to assist enterprises.
Besides, foreign tourist arrivals, new businesses and investment in HCMC fell sharply, and the number of firms suspending operations increased by 40.6 percent year on year.
According to the city’s Customs Department, the 10 import commodities contributing most to the budget, including completely-built automobiles, motorbikes, steel and petrol, also experienced sharp declines in their turnover, by 15-50 percent from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, items with increased export turnover like computers, electronic devices, agro-aquatic products, pharmaceutical and chemicals are entitled to low tariffs under free trade agreements, making them unable to compensate for the decline in import tariff revenue.
To achieve this year’s budget revenue target, the HCMC People’s Committee is reportedly taking actions to support businesses, promote economic growth, and step up the divestment of State capital from State-owned enterprises.
