ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: The Central Board of Revenue collected Rs195.1 billion during the first four months (July-October) of the current fiscal year, as against Rs166.631 billion during the same period last year, indicating an increase of 17.1 per cent.

Provisional figures released here on Monday showed that the revenue collection surpassed the target of Rs192.3 billion by 1.45 per cent. The CBR expects the overall collection will further increase when revenue figures for October 2005 are finalized in the next few days.

The tax-wise break-up showed that the collection of direct taxes reached Rs57.8 billion during the July-Oct period this year, as against Rs48.488 billion during the same period last year, showing a growth of 19.2 per cent.

An overall growth of 21.1 per cent was observed in sales tax as it stood at Rs84.9 billion during the first four months this year as compared to Rs70.065 billion in the same period last year.

The collection of customs duties went up to Rs37.7 billion during July-Oct 2005, as against Rs32.6 billion in the same period last year, indicating a growth of 15.7 per cent.