PANAJI
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in August topping the Rs 285-crore mark showing a nearly 34 per-cent increase year-on-year (it was Rs 213 in August last year), finance department officials are cautious and refraining from show-casing it as a revival of the business climate in the State.
A senior official in the finance department said, a better assessment of the State's business or economy can be made from the excise collections but that it was too early to tom-tom it as a revival in the face of the crippling effect of the pandemic.
The official said only a small fraction of these GST collections will eventually trickle back to the State's coffers in the form of "Compensation Cess" to compensate the loss of revenues due to the GST regime.
Business climate in Goa is a long way away from normalcy. The State has been under curfew since May 9 when the second wave of Covid-19 infections ravaged the State, impacting business and especially the crucial tourism sector.
The State government has at various intervals since May 9 eased restrictions of the curfew and some sectors such as hotels and restaurants have been permitted to operate since.
The State administration is also closely monitoring the Covid-19 situation to fully open up but is wary that the upcoming festival season may create conditions conducive for the pre-forecast third wave.
The tourism industry representatives, meanwhile, are constantly lobbying hard with the government to lift some of the restrictions citing the over one year-long impact of the pandemic which has financially crippled many of their businesses.
