Import Duty Revenue Falls Below Half of Projected Target, Finance Ministry Statistics Show

Statistics from the Finance Ministry show that the state has collected less than 50 percent of the projected import duty revenue for 2025, with only two months remaining in the year.

The state budget had projected MVR 4.6 billion in import duty revenue for 2025. However, according to the Finance Ministry’s latest state revenue and expenditure statistics released on 16 October, the government has collected just MVR 2.4 billion, representing 47 percent of the anticipated total. This figure marks a decrease of MVR 238 million compared to the same period last year.

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Import duty revenue has remained consistently low throughout the year. While the Economic Minister, Mohamed Saeed, was unable to provide a reason for the shortfall, he stated that the decline is not linked to the free trade agreement with China.

Some lawmakers have attributed the drop in revenue to a recent increase in the duty on cigarettes. The rise in prices to MVR 240 per box has reportedly encouraged a black market where smuggled cigarettes are sold at lower prices, reducing legal sales and revenue collection.

Concerns over falling import duty revenue coincide with slower spending on state projects. Only MVR 4 billion has been disbursed on projects so far this year, down from MVR 5.6 billion during the same period last year and accounting for just 32 percent of the budgeted amount.