The Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT) said that between January and August, the government collected Q28.294bn (US$3.62bn), which was 17.7% more than the Q24bn (US$3bn) collected in the same period of 2010.
Almost exactly two-thirds (65.6%) of the tax revenues come from the domestic market. The remainder comes from tariffs.
The government’s tax target for 2011 is to generate revenues of Q38.8bn (US$4.96bn). It looks on course to beat that target.
The election: Economic policymaking has barely featured as an issue in the election which culminates in a run-off on 6 November between a former general, Otto Pérez Molina, who lost last time, and Manuel Baldizón, a populist businessman from Petén. Baldizón’s main election pitches are to reintroduce public execution of criminals and to ensure that Guatemala qualifies for the next World Cup in 2014 in Brazil.
Remittances: In the first eight months of 2011 remittances were up by 7% at US$2.934bn.
Inflation: In August monthly inflation was 0.60% bringing the annual rate to 7.63%.
