Revenue targets will be hard to meet: finance minister

It will be difficult for the country to meet preset revenue targets this year, the finance minister said on Thursday.

Lou Jiwei said the economy will have to achieve a monthly increase of at least 11.3 percent in the second half of this year, in a bid to meet the preset goal of revenue income.

Lou said the economy will still be impeded by several factors, including slumping company profits and the expansion of value-added tax reform in the service and transportation industry.

“While the global economy is slowly recovering, the domestic situation is also confronted with potential risks. Some industries are still struggling on a lifeline,” Lou said in a report to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

Public finance income reached 4.3 trillion yuan ($703.9 billion) by the end of April, a 6.7 percent increase year-on-year. But Lou said the growth rate has dropped 5.8 percentage points than for the same period of 2012.