Weaker consumption and industrial output cited by Ministry of Finance

The government's tax income rose 7.9 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year, down from 9.8 percent in the same period last year, because of weaker industrial output and consumption amid an economic slowdown, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.

The deceleration of tax growth may put a squeeze on the possibility of a fiscal stimulus - one of the crucial driving forces to avoid deepening economic slippage in the coming months, economists said.