Since the start of cryptocurrency mining in Laos last year, the government has generated nearly USD 27 million in revenue.
This was revealed by Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone while speaking at the 5th Ordinary Session of the 9th National Assembly regarding better management of the state budget so as to prevent any leakage.
To achieve this, the government modernized the collection of revenue and issued several laws to improve efficiency. As a result, the value-added tax (VAT) base has increased to 74% and requires 14,283 business units to pay VAT.
The government has also focused on promoting and monitoring revenue collection through large revenue collection agencies. This has resulted in surplus revenue collection, with 5 provinces with 69 of such agencies collecting as much as 41% more than last year, TARGET Magazine reported.
Currently, Laos has 101 central administrative agency units in nine provinces that are collecting revenue.
In addition to these efforts, the government has also generated new revenue streams from the mining of minerals which has generated LAK 105 billion (USD 48.71 million), and from Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency trading, which have generated LAK 5.7 billion (USD 26.5 million).
Cryptocurrency mining is a relatively new industry in Laos, having only been officially launched last year.
Mr. Sonexay also said that electricity consumption in the country has generated USD 195.5 million in revenue. He added that a part of this income could also be channeled toward solving electricity problems in certain parts of Laos.
The PM hopes that by making efforts to increase the state budget, it has created a more efficient and effective system for collecting revenue and generating significant new income streams for the government.
