ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected Rs 587 billion during the first four months and twenty days period (July-November 20) of the current financial year against Rs 432 billion in same period of last year. FBR officials are optimistic that they would achieve the revenue collection target of Rs 1,952 billion during the ongoing fiscal year 2011-2012 keeping in view the current performance of the tax department during almost five months period. The government is in position to reach the annual tax collection target at the end of June 2012, said an FBR official while talking to The Nation on Friday. The governments steps taken in March 2011 by eliminating tax exemptions on several sectors and commodities has resulted in improved tax collection so far, Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood Khan said in his media talks held few days back. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has shown concerns over the revenue collection target of Rs 1,952 billion, as according to the sources, IMF was of the view that Pakistan might struggle to achieve the said target. IMF officials were of the view that FBR would be able to collect some Rs1,900 to Rs 1930 billion during the fiscal year instead of Rs 1,952 billion. However, on the other hand, high-ups of the Finance Ministry and Federal Board of Revenue assured the Fund that they would meet the annual target without taking additional revenue generation measures during the remaining period of the ongoing fiscal year. The break-up of Rs 587 billion, collected during the first four months and twenty days period (July-November 20) of current financial year, revealed that FBR has collected Rs 188 billion as direct tax, Rs 286 billion as Sales Tax, Rs 46 billion as Federal Excise Duty and Rs 67 billion as Custom duty. The FBR had collected Rs 421 billion during the same period of the last year, sources added.