BEIJING - China's fiscal revenues grew 4.2 percent year on year to 786.3 billion yuan ($124 billion) in August, the Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.

The country's central fiscal revenue dropped 6.7 percent year on year to 376.5 billion yuan last month, while that of local governments was up 16.8 percent to 409.8 billion yuan, according to a statement from the ministry.

During the first eight months, the country's fiscal revenues expanded by 10.8 percent from a year earlier to 8.23 trillion yuan, according to the statement.

The growth rate was down 20.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

The ministry attributed the slower growth to the slowing economy, falling prices and structural tax reductions.

China's economy expanded 7.8 percent year on year in the first half of 2012, down 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

The country's consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of inflation, rose 2 percent year on year in August, accelerating from 1.8 percent in July, according to the statistics bureau.