Revenue from customs duties and excise tax reached $1.31 billion during the first nine months of this year, a 16 percent increase compared to the same period last year, figures released on Monday show.

Khun Nhoem, general director of the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), said that the $1.31 billion was equal to 81 percent of what is projected to be collected under Cambodia’s 2016 national budget.

“Based on the results achieved within this nine month period, we expect that [to] get total revenue collection of about $1.75 billion by the end of 2016,” he said.

According to the GDCE, the total revenue collected was primarily from the vehicle import tax, which raked in 41 percent of the $1.31 billion, while revenue from gasoline and energy imports accounted for another 21 percent. General goods accounted for 35 percent of the total sum.

Vong Seyvisoth, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, told the Post in August that the increase in revenue collection was because customs was striving to openly become transparent. Customs collected $1.58 billion in revenue in 2015, a 17.4 per cent increase compared to 2014.