Ctg Customs witnesses negative revenue growth for 4 consecutive months
Chattogram Custom House has seen a negative growth in revenue collection for four consecutive months since December 2022.
The volume of import and export containers handled at Chattogram Port in January-March this year was also lower compared to the same period in the previous year, sources at the port said.
Out of the first nine months of FY23, revenue growth was negative for five months at Chattogram Customs, according to the Chattogram Custom House.
The growth in revenue collection was 40.87% in July of FY23, which fell to 24.67% in August. Then the Custom House witnessed 0.17% negative revenue growth in September, which picked up in the following two months – 3 .91% in October and 14.13% in November.
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Again from December last year to this March, there was negative revenue growth compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. It was negative 9.18% in December 2022, fell to negative 17.35% this February before improving to negative 5.13% in March.
Chattogram Custom House Deputy Commissioner Md Bodruzzaman Munshi told TBS that the revenue collection has declined due to the decrease in the import of luxury goods such as cars, cosmetics and electronics from which a high amount of revenue is collected.
The revenue collection target for FY23 has been set at Tk74,206 crore. Revenue collection in the July-March period was Tk44,228.40 crore against a target of Tk55,807 crore.
Chattogram Custom House collected Tk42,730.82 crore revenue in the same period of FY22. Compared to the first nine months of the previous fiscal year, revenue collection grew by 3.50% in the same period this fiscal year.
Container handling decreases
In March 2023, Chattogram port handled 98,736 TEUs of containers carrying imported cargo and 55,160 TEUs of containers carrying exported cargo. The port handled 113,039 TEUs of containers carrying imported goods and 76,166 TEUs containers carrying export products in the same period last year.
The port handled 77,841 TEUs of containers of imported products in February this year, which was 115,389 TEUs in February last year. It handled 56,224 TEUs of containers with export products this February, which was 69,820 TEUs in the same month last year.
In January 2023, the port handled 87,984 TEUs of import containers and 62,727 TEUs of export containers. In January 2022, it handled 131,526 TEUs of imports and 73,542 TEUs of export containers.
Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbubul Alam said banks are not able to open LCs as per demand. Consequently, the import volume has dipped compared to last year, which in turn has led to a decline in the volume of containers handled at the port.
