Customs revenue for fiscal year 2017 amounted to 732 billion CFA francs, according to figures released Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance (MINFI).

They are up by 49 billion CFA francs compared with the previous year, when it was 683 billion CFA francs.

Although they increased by 7.2 percent in absolute value, the revenue earnings are below expectations set by the government.

In the 2017 finance law, the missions assigned to the customs administration by the public authorities were of the order of 800 billion CFA francs, meaning the objectives set were not achieved.

Based on the figures published by the Finance ministry, it appears that customs revenues are down by 67.4 billion CFA francs compared with the forecasts, which represents an achievement rate of 91.6 percent.

ThIS “underperformance” the authorities have attributed, in particular, to the decline in imports and the impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which entered into force on August 4, 2016.

For the current fiscal year, the expected contribution of the customs is 800 billion CFA francs, a goal that could be achieved following the stabilisation in the security situation in the Far North region, and the “weakening” of Boko Haram that allowed reopening of the Nigeria and Chad borders, according to the DGD.