China’s fiscal revenue dropped 9.2 percent year on year during the first seven months of 2022, official data showed on Wednesday, a Chinese media report said.

The country’s fiscal revenue amounted to approximately 12.5 trillion yuan (about 1.84 trillion U.S. dollars) during the period, according to the Ministry of Finance, the report added.

Excluding the impact of value-added tax credit refunds, fiscal revenue grew 3.2 percent from a year earlier.

The central government collected about 5.74 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, down 11.2 percent, and local governments collected 6.75 trillion yuan, down 7.6 percent.

Tax revenue came in at nearly 10.27 trillion yuan in the January-July period, down 13.8 percent year on year.

Fiscal spending rose 6.4 percent year on year to hit 14.68 trillion yuan during the period, according to the ministry.###