BoC collections drop 2.58% in February due to coronavirus

The Bureau of Customs (BoC) reported a 2.58% decline in February collections to P41.671 billion due to reduced cargo volumes from the coronavirus outbreak.

Cargo volumes dropped by 6.67% year-on-year to 8.146 million tons, with imports from China decreasing by 34.67% to 936,246 tons.

This decline resulted in an estimated P2.7 billion loss in revenue from Customs charges.

Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko confirmed that importations from China fell by 44%, leading to a 22% overall decrease in imports for February.