The fiscal performance for the first half of the 2010/11 financial year from July to December is on track.

The implementation of the new budget starts in July every year, a norm Rwanda adopted following the country’s entry into the East African Community.

Finance Minister John Rwangombwa recently noted that government increased domestic revenues and this year’s budget reflects the communal determination of the government to mobilise resources.

During the first semester of the financial year 2010/11, the fiscal performance recorded total revenue of Rwf226.6 billion including grants compared to Rwf219.7 billion projected, which is 3 percent higher than expected. 

‘Improved collections from PAYE and VAT’

"This good performance in the tax revenue was almost entirely due to improved (revenue) collection from PAYE, domestic VAT and excise duties,” said Amina Rwankunda, a senior Economist in the Macroeconomic department of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

The overall fiscal deficit incurred during the first six months of financial year 2010/11 was slightly better than expected and stood at Rwf251.38 billion, about 0.5 percent of GDP lower than the targeted Rwf258.8 billion.

The overall total revenue and grants from July 2010 to June 2011 accounted for Rwf844.2 billion as well as the total expenditure while net lending stood at Rwf988.1 during the same period. 

Total expenditures and net lending during the first half of FY2010/11 amounted to RWF 477.97 billion while recurrent spending stood at Rwf258.4 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to Rwf195.5 billion of which foreign-financed capital reached Rwf88.4 billion.

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