This was revealed by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands in its monthly economic bulletin.
The report said that the figures on Government finances for May are not available.
“However, the fiscal position for April showed an overall deficit of $3.0 million, following a surplus of $36.6 million in the previous month.
“The negative outcome came on the back of weak revenue collections which fell to $135.9 million from $170.2 million as against the expenditure of $138.8 million during the month,” the Bank said in the report.
Government revenue in April stood at $135.9 million comprising of local revenue $104.7 million and $31.2 million in grants.
Of the local sources, Inland Revenue Division (IRD) contributed $67.5 million, $30.9 million from Customs and Excise Division (CED), and $6.2 million from Other Ministries.
Compared to budget, all revenue sources exceeded budget, except for non tax revenue that waned against budget by 57.0% prior to March.
Despite the fall witnessed in IRD collections by 34.4% during the month, total revenue collected from IRD exceeded budget by 11.0% to register $67.5 million.
“This was 5.0% above the same period in 2009,” the bank’s report said.
The main components underpinning the rise in IRD collections as against budget were company tax, Government PAYE, private sector PAYE, licensing, and sales tax.
Company tax surpassed the budget by 192.6%, reflecting a one off early payment (due for September) by a large company.
Similarly, PAYE rose above budget by 37.6% to register $20.5 million, reflecting an increase in payroll of the Ministry of Health and Medical services and the National Parliament during the month.
Sales tax and licensing also increased during the month to $3.7 million and $0.6 million, surpassing budget by 10.3% and 17.1% respectively.
On the contrary, total withholding tax performed below budget by 36.2% to $4.5 million and stamp duty by 25.8% to $0.7 million.
The fall in withholding tax was associated with a major drop in dividend withholding tax by $5.2 million.
While overall goods tax is tracking well with the budget estimates of $28.5 million, collections at the wharf declined compared to March, the report said.
By MOFFAT MAMU
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