KABUL - The government’s revenue reached 109 billion afghanis in 2014, showing an eight percent dip, an official said on Sunday. The target for revenue collection in 2014 had been set 132 billion afghanis, but it could not be achieved due to some problems, the Finance Ministry said.

The government revenue experiences decline at a time when foreign aid makes up 70 percent of the country’s annual budget.

Finance Ministry’s spokesman Abdul Qadir Jilani said 44.8 billion afghanis of the revenue had come from customs offices and the rest from private sector entrepreneurs and other sources.

He linked the decline in revenue to growing insecurity and the prolonged electoral process last year.

Jilani said 2014 was a challenging year for customs officials who faced problems in remote areas. He said customs officials faced threats like kidnapping and killing in border areas.

He listed insecurity, the lack of professional staff at customs departments, a lack of required equipment and infrastructure in most custom offices as hurdles to smoothly running their affairs.

In addition, he said, smuggling routes remained another major factor causing the revenue to decline.

However, Jilani said the Ministry of Finance was trying to upgrade the revenue collection system, enhance capacity of its employees, bring reforms to the laws and introduce new policies encouraging local and foreign investors. (Pajhwok)