Customs chief says drop in oil prices means up to P40B lost income for BOC

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MANILA, Philippines – On account of the downward trend in the worldwide price of oil, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) says it will lose as much as P40 billion a year.

This was revealed by customs commissioner John Sevilla, who said that the global overstock of oil – which has, in turn, resulted in a drop in oil prices – will also cause collections from oil to go down.

Sevilla pointed out that 22 percent of customs collections in 2014 were derived from oil imports, and that the drop in prices is now being felt by the agency.

“Compared to this time last year, we’re below 50 percent in terms of price,” Sevilla said, noting that the BOC made around P370 billion in revenues last year; 20 percent higher than in 2013, but still lower than their target of P408.1 billion.

Global oil prices have dropped by over 50-percent since September 2014, due to an oversupply of the product, coupled with a lukewarm demand, especially in the European and Asian markets.