China's central government fiscal revenue fell in April as business tax income dropped but booming home transactions lifted local government revenue faster, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The central government's revenue fell 2.2 percent to 535.7 billion yuan (US$87.1 billion) from a year earlier, after slipping 0.2 percent in March. It is the first time that the central government has seen its revenue shrink for two consecutive months since September.

The ministry attributed the decline to a "very slow" increase in corporate tax, a decline in tariff income from imports, and a high figure last year due to a special profit collection from oil companies.

The ministry cautioned that fiscal revenue will be under pressure this year due to a likely slower industrial output growth, worsening corporate profit and structural tax-cutting measures.

However, the local government's revenue rose 14.7 percent to 607.4 billion yuan, 1 percentage point faster than March's, as housing transactions rose and boosted tax revenue, according to the ministry.

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