DUSHANBE, June 11, Asia-Plus  -- Over the first five months of this year, customs officer have transferred some 650 million somonis (equivalent to some $190 million) to the national budget, which is 252 million somonis more than in the same period of last year and 7.8 percent more than it was originally planned, Asia-Plus ahs learned from Abdurasoul Sharipov, a spokesman for the Customs Service.    

According to him, the totaled included 489 million somonis collected in customs fees, 551,301 somonis in value added tax (VAT), 54,929,659 somonis in excise tax and 82,418,921 somonis in customs duties.  

Customs officers plan to increase customs payments to 1.5 billion somonis (some $437 million) by the end of this year, the spokesman said.  

Last year, customs officers transferred 1.1 billion somonis to the national budget, while the target was determined at 700 million somonis.