Zimbabwe has surpassed its 2018 revenue targets by US$ 1.18 Billion, according to the fourth quarter report issued by the Finance Ministry.
The increase was attributed to the Government policies seeking to boost the tax revenue base which was marked by revision of the Intermediate money transfer tax, price effect and improved efficiency and effectiveness by Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
“Revenue collections during the fourth quarter of 2018 stood at US$1.69 billion, that way surpassing the set target of US$1.18 billion by 43.4 percent,” News Zimbabwe reported.
Also, the fourth quarter revenues surpassed third quarter revenues of US$1.3 billion by 31.3 percent,
ZIMRA noted that excise duty was a major contributor to the total collection and the performance of the revenue head was attributed to increased supply of petroleum products.
“The demand for petrol and diesel was heightened by cross-border travelers who preferred to fuel in Zimbabwe due to its flexible exchange rate of Real-Time Gross Settlements. Petrol imports increased by 39,92% from 407,49 million litres in 2017 to 570,17 million litres in 2018 while diesel imports increased by 26,84% from 834,40 million litres in 2017 to 1,06 billion litres in 2018,” Zimra said.
Nonetheless, the country’s total economic worth recorded a 4 percent growth contrary to the 4.5 percent that had been projected by the Finance Ministry.
