MANILA, Philippines — The interagency Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) has lowered the Bureau of Customs’ collection target for this year by P18 billion due to projected slower import growth.

Finance Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresa S. Habitan said Customs collection, which accounts for a fifth of government revenue, was reduced by 5 percent to P347 billion from the original target of P365 billion.

“The economic managers are expecting the country’s imports to slow this year and that will affect Customs collection performance,” Habitan said in a phone interview.

The DBCC, which is an interagency group that sets the country’s macroeconomic assumptions, revised on Wednesday the country’s expected value of imports for 2012 from the initial $79.4 billion to $75.9 billion.

Customs Commissioner Ruffino Rozzano B. Biazon has been vocal about the desire of the agency for a lower revenue goal, saying it is impossible for them to reach the original collection target.

Customs was unable to reach its target on most months last year, except in January and March.

In 2011, Customs collected only P263.85 billion, lower by 17 percent compared with the P320-billion collection target set by the economic managers.

Meanwhile, Habitan said the DBCC has maintained its assigned collection target for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the government’s main tax agency.

“The economic managers are pushing the BIR for much better efficiency in collecting taxes,” Habitan said.

The BIR collection, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of total tax revenues, is projected to reach a record P1.066 trillion this year, higher by 13 percent compared with P940-billion target for 2011.

BIR Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares earlier said that she is optimistic that her agency will meet its trillion-peso collection target this year.

As of November last year, the government’s main tax agency was short by P90.485 billion to meet its collection target for 2011.

The BIR will release its December collection performance on January 30.