Kenya says narrowly misses 2009/10 revenue targets

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya missed its 2009/10 (July-June) fiscal year revenue target by 10.8 billion shillings or two percent, its tax collection agency said on Tuesday.

The east African nation, which has the region's biggest economy, collected 545.2 billion shillings during the period, 11.2 percent higher than the previous year.

The domestic taxes department recorded the highest growth in collections at 13.2 percent followed by customs, which collected 8 percent more taxes, the Kenya Revenue Authority said in a statement.

Treasury officials have been raising their annual targets for the taxman every year in line with GDP expansion. Although government has been relying on internal revenues to fund its programmes in recent years, it cast its eye outwards for a bigger portion of funds during the 2010/11 fiscal year.

Net foreign financing through concessional loans, worth 82 billion shillings, will be used to plug a 6.8 percent budget deficit.