MANILA - The Bureau of Customs (BoC) is likely to fall about P36 billion ($764 million) short of its goal to collect P273.3 billion this year on account of lower import volumes, Commissioner Napoleon Morales said on Tuesday.

"It is likely we will miss the program by around P36 billion," he told reporters.

Officials of the revenue agency previously said that weaker demand due to the global economic crisis has put a dent on the country's imports.

Imports are now seen to slip more than earlier forecast. The central bank expects imports to fall 17% this year rather than the original government projection of 8-12%.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the main tax office, had also admitted it might not meet its P798.46-billion collection target for 2009 because of the economic downturn, effects of recent back-to-back typhoons, and implementation of several "revenue-eroding" laws.

Because of poor BIR and BoC collections, the Philippines will likely post a record budget deficit of about P280 billion this year, above its targeted P250 billion, government officials said. - abs-cbnNEWS.com, with a report from Reuters