A late burst of revenue helped the government to come in just shy of its fiscal first-half target, says a senior Finance Ministry official.
The state collected 157 billion baht in revenue last month, exceeding its target by 10.7 billion, said Krisada Chinavicharana, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office.
For the six months to March 31, the government mustered revenue of 973 billion baht or 0.1% off target, he said, adding that the shortfall was insignificant.
Tax-collecting agencies have been struggling to achieve revenue targets amid economic doldrums. The government is in dire need of money to finance an eight-year infrastructure investment plan.
The aim is to collect 2.325 trillion baht for fiscal 2015, which began last Oct 1.
Budget expenditure is set at 2.575 trillion baht, leaving a budget deficit of 250 billion.
The shortfall could be attributed to falling excise tax and value-added tax (VAT) on petrol as a result of tumbling oil prices, plus recent cuts in import duties.
The VAT imposed on oil imports was 20 billion baht shy of its six-month target.
The Customs Department lost out on 2 billion baht in revenue during the fiscal first half after cuts in raw material and machinery import duties, well below the FPO's estimate of 5 billion.
During the October-March period, the Revenue Department, the largest tax revenue contributor, fell 5.5% shy of the target at 709 billion baht.
The Customs Department collected 589 billion baht, missing its target by 4.1%.
The Excise Department, however, collected 223 billion baht, surpassing its target by 11 billion or 5.2%.
Although revenue collection missed the first-half target, higher contributions from state enterprise revenue and fee revenue charged by other state agencies almost made up for it.