Revenues to the Chilean Treasury recorded an annual increase of 9.1 percent in January 2023, mainly influenced by higher property income due to the growth in the collection of lithium exploitation contracts and by the taxation of private mining, the Budget Office informed yesterday, Friday.
The agency stated in a press release that Chile’s total central government revenues reached a figure corresponding to 2.5 percent of this year’s estimated Gross Domestic Product.
It pointed out that revenues from property income increased by 523.6 percent in real terms, which was explained by the growth in the collection of the Chilean Production Development Corporation, administered by the local Ministry of Economy, as a result of the lithium exploitation contracts with the companies Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) and Albemarle.
SQM has the permits to exploit and manage the Chilean resources found in the Atacama Desert, in the Salar de Atacama, the third largest in the world, and at an altitude of over 2,300 meters.
Lithium is used to manufacture rechargeable batteries for laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, and electric cars, among other products.