PESHAWAR, Nov 9: The NWFP government recorded massive shortfall in the Provincial Own Receipts (PORs) during the first quarter of the current financial year, according to official sources.

Out of the Rs3,692m total PORs target for the current financial year, the province was required to record Rs923m revenue during the first three months of the current fiscal year on proportionate basis.

However, against that the provincial tax collection machinery recorded revenue much less than the proportionate target after ending up at around Rs665m missing the first three months’ target by some Rs250m, according to the sources.

The revenue recorded, at the close of the first quarter, makes just over 18 per cent of the total annual PORs target of Rs3692m.

Revenue shortfall has been attributed to the below the expectations performance under several tax and non-tax heads of the PORs.

The finance managers of the province had set the current financial year’s PORs target at a benchmark less than the last financial year in an attempt to fix a realistic target that could be achievable.

Against the Rs4.3bn initially estimated PORs target and Rs3.6bn revised PORs target for the 2000-01 financial year, the provincial government, this time around, had fixed the target at Rs3692m.

However, massive shortfall recorded in the first quarter of the current financial year had left the provincial tax collection machinery in a difficult situation making several, from among the official circles, to believe that the province was not likely to meet the Rs3,692 m target.

“Achievement of the target appears to be a daunting task and next to impossible if something extraordinary is not done to improve the recovery situation during the remaining part of the fiscal year,” said the sources.