BEIJING - China's fiscal revenue kept growing at a slower pace in the first two months of 2013, dragged by the economic downshift and tax cuts, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Wednesday.

The country's fiscal revenue increased 7.2 percent year on year to 2.24 trillion yuan ($357 billion), slower than the growth rate of 13.1 percent in the same period a year ago.

The central government collected 1.08 trillion yuan in fiscal revenues in the January-February period, up 1.6 percent year on year, while local governments saw fiscal revenues grow 12.9 percent to 1.16 trillion yuan.

For the central government, a slower growth of revenue was mainly due to a weakening economy, structural tax cuts and slowing imports. Local governments raked in more taxes from rising property transactions, the ministry explained.