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Nigeria to harmonize public revenue collection, strip over 60 agencies of revenue powers. Here’s why

Published

1 year ago

August 10, 2023

Nigeria is exploring stopping its customs, port authority, postal service, and about 60 other ministries, departments, and agencies of government from collecting revenue on behalf of the Federal Government.

The move was revealed in a proposal by the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms which stated that the listed agencies of government were not meant to collect revenue directly.

The chairman of the committee, Taiwo Oyedele, during an interview on Wednesday, said that Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was best suited to collect revenue for the government.

Oyedele, a former PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader, claims that although Nigeria’s tax revenue collection is among the lowest in the world, the expense of collection is considerable.

“Ironically, our cost of collection is one of the highest. And the reason for that is that we’ve got all manners of agencies. The Federal Government alone, we have 63 MDAs that were given revenue targets last year, no; actually in the 2023 budget,” he said.

“And two things that would come up from that: on one hand, these agencies are being distracted from doing their primary function which is to facilitate the economy. Number two, they were not set up to collect revenue, so, they won’t be able to collect revenue efficiently. So, move those revenue-collection functions to the FIRS. It has two advantages: the cost of collection and efficiency will improve, these guys will focus on their work, and the economy will benefit as a result.

“If you are Customs, focus on trade facilitation, border protection and if you are NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission), just regulate telecommunications. You are not set up to collect revenue.

“It can be your revenue and someone else can collect it for you. There will be more transparency because you can see what is being collected and is accounted for properly. It is also a way of holding ourselves to account as to how we spend the money we collect from the people”, he added.

President Bola Tinubu, since his inauguration on May 29, has driven economic reforms like the floating of the currency, the removal of fuel subsidy, and tax reforms to improve the country’s revenue crisis, having inherited a staggering debt burden.

Related Topics:Featured FIRS government Nigeria

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

5 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.