Revenue collections at the Customs and Excise Division in Antigua and Barbuda are up by $10.60 million or 15.1 per cent for the first three months of the year, compared with the corresponding period last year.

The Customs and Excise Division is one of the two main revenue centres for the government of the Caribbean’s twin islands.

Comptroller of Customs Raju Boddu reports that collections up to the end of March 2022 totalled $87.23 million, compared with $76.63 million for the same period last year.

14 MILLION CASES OF FOOD IMPORTED IN FIRST QUARTER LAST YEAR

The comptroller said two main factors driving the increased revenue are increased economic activities as well as increases in the price of landed goods driven by imported inflation. As an example, Boddu said that just over 14 million cases of food were imported in the first quarter of last year at a value of $77.31 million.

According to Boddu, “the value of imports has increased significantly as our data has revealed that importers are paying higher prices for their goods that are landed in the country. Customs did an analysis of the increases in the landed cost of food items and have found that there is about a nine per cent increase in the imported cost of food”.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA NATIONALS COMMENT

However, for the first quarter of this year, there has been an increase of three million cases to just over 17 million, at a cost of $101.72 million. Upon hearing the news, one national, Wiley, commented: “Now we know the government is earning a huge increase; revenues from the increase in price of imported goods, the government should be considering reducing duty to bring down the cost of especially food.”

Wiley further commented that, “the increase in the cost of eggs was stated as a concern by the government.  If the government would reduce or remove the duty on poultry meat, this should reduce the cost of eggs”.

Another national responded that for the “first three months last year most businesses were closed due to COVID-19 therefore it is expected to see such increases this year for the first quarter. Compare the period to a similar year for better comparison. Just my two cents”.