After witnessing a decline in trade, the Sirsiya Dry Port Customs Office in Birgunj has failed to meet its revenue collection target for seven months straight.

The revenue collection in the last month stood at Rs2.27 billion against the target of Rs3.24 billion.

In the month of April-May, revenue collection was recorded at 80 percent of the total target.

In first ten months of the current fiscal year, the office had planned to collect Rs 29.23 billion in customs revenue but it has only been able to meet 89 percent of the target.

According to Information Officer Bikash Shah, the customs office is struggling to meet the collection target due to a fall in trade activities and importers not getting their merchandise cleared through the port.

The customs office used to meet its collection target year round but in the current fiscal year, it only met the target in the September-October period.

“The current fiscal year has seen a decline in trade and high targets have made it difficult to collect the revenue as per expectations,” said Shah.

Iron and sugar imports, top revenue contributors for the customs, have declined and imports of liquor from third countries have also fallen.

“The upcoming budget announcement might lead to an increase in imports,” said Shah.