Nepal's revenue collection kept growing steadily, driven by the government's upward revision in customs duties of several commodities last mid-July, and a growing culture of paying taxes, Ministry of Finance stated in Kathmandu on Saturday.

The data of the ministry showed that the government collected revenue amounting to 48.04 billion Nepali rupees (some 686 million U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this fiscal year, started in mid-July, 2006, a 16.4 percent growth compared to that of the same period during last year.

Officials said the readjustment in customs duties, improved customs valuation, increased tax compliance, and growing consumer confidence were responsible for the healthy revenue mobilization.

Besides, the rise in non-tax revenue caused by the steady growth in the distribution of dividends by public companies contributed to push up the total revenue collection, they said.

According to a leading website, eKantipur.com report, the growth in revenue collection is close to the government's budgetary target.

The government has set a target to see a 16 percent rise in revenue mobilization to 85 billion rupees (some 1.2 billion dollars) during the current fiscal year.

Source: Xinhua