VenturesNow

No plan to increase taxes, Nigeria’s revenue chief says

Published

9 months ago

March 28, 2024

The head of Nigeria’s revenue agency, Zacch Adedeji, has reaffirmed that there is no plan for the introduction of new taxes in the country.

Adedeji, who is the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue, made the position known when the Chief Executive Officer of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Adebayo Alli, led the management team of the company on a visit to the Revenue House in Abuja.

He was quoted as saying, “the President gave a directive that he wants a single digit tax in the country, meaning that the maximum number of taxes we will have after the work of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms will be nine taxes,” in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, Dare Adekanmbi.

“For us at FIRS, we have responded to that directive. We want to grow the pie such that even if we are taking the same percentage of the bigger pie, the result will be huge.

“By God’s grace, we will not introduce additional taxes nor increase any form of tax. We are only determined to increase the pie. We have restructured our operations at FIRS in such a way that we are now effectively carrying out our duty of assessing, collecting and accounting for taxes. We used to have functional types of taxes, but we have identified that the only customers we have are the taxpayers.”

He stated that by restructuring “our operations based on our customers, using their turnover as the basis to categorise them into large, medium, and small,” FIRS has enhanced its customer relations. He continued by saying that President Bola Tinubu wanted to increase Nigerians’ purchasing power in order to promote growth and increase businesses’ capacity for productivity through the recently implemented consumer credit scheme.

The Nigerian government has been working to overhaul the nation’s monetary and fiscal policies since the start of the Bola Tinubu administration. This has resulted in the central bank and the Oyedele-led tax advisory council implementing daring new policies.

Related Topics:Featured Nigeria Nigeria’s revenue tax

Click to comment

VenturesNow

Moroccan annual inflation rises to 0.8% in November

Published

23 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Morocco’s statistics office has confirmed that the country’s annual inflation rate, as determined by the consumer price index, increased from 0.7% in October to 0.8% in November.

Monthly, consumer prices decreased by 0.2% from October.

The primary driver of inflation, food costs, grew by 0.8% compared to the previous year, while non-food inflation climbed by 0.7%. Core inflation, which does not include more erratic items like food, increased 2.6% annually and 0.2% monthly.

According to the central bank, inflation is expected to average 1% this year, down from 6.1% last year.

Despite the Al-Haouz earthquake, a spike in inflation, and worldwide economic challenges, Morocco’s GDP grew by 3.4% in 2023.

A recovery in tourism, robust industrial exports, and rising private consumption—all bolstered by prudent macroeconomic policies—were the main drivers of growth.

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s $42bn foreign reserves enough for 9 months’ imports— Central Bank

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation’s $42.01 billion in foreign reserves can cover imports of goods and services for almost nine months.

Cardoso promised Nigerians improved economic fortunes in 2025 while addressing the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions yesterday in Abuja at the presentation of the performance index report.

Cardoso stated: “External Reserves rose from $ 38.35 billion it was on September 30, 2024, to $ 42.01 billion as of December 12, 2024”.

He clarified that third-party receipts in Q3 2024 and revenues from taxes connected to crude oil were the main drivers of the rise in foreign reserves during the specified time.

“We saw remarkable improvements in our trade balance and maintained a current account surplus,” he added.

“Our external reserves level can finance over 9.09 months of import of goods and services or 13.91 months only, higher than the international benchmark of 3.0 months and a robust buffer against shocks”.

On cash shortage, the CBN boss reiterated the N150 million fine against any branch of banks caught illegally distributing new Naira notes to currency hawkers and unscrupulous elements and said the Nigerian economy will improve in 2025 through policies and measures.

He predicted a stronger economic future: “Despite our economy’s challenges, there are clear reasons for optimism.

“The gradual stabilization of the forex market, ongoing banking sector recapitalization, and positive growth trends in key sectors, especially the services sector, indicate a path toward recovery and stability.”