Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu has just suspended excise taxes introduced about two months ago, on several locally produced goods and telecommunications services.
According to Dele Alake, the spokesperson to the President on Thursday, July 6, Tinubu had signed the executive order in a bid to tackle the ‘business unfriendly fiscal policy measures’ and the myriad of taxes.
The taxes being vetoed by Tinubu include levies on certain imported vehicles, single-use plastic products and the taxes on locally produced alcoholic drinks and tobacco that were instituted by Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor, during his final days in office.
Alake had remarked that this development was geared towards the President’s promise of bettering the lives of Nigerians and not ‘asphyxiating corporate entities.’
This suspension of taxes is coming on the heels of several changes, introduced by the Nigerian President and it has long been yearned for by bankers, economists and businesses alike, to resuscitate Africa’s largest economy from almost 10 years of passivity.
Others development within the recent months had included Tinubu removing a fuel subsidy that had cost Nigeria about $10 billion last year, suspending Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, devaluing the Naira and launching an revamp of the country’s dreadful power sector.
Only time would tell if these steps would be positive for the country.
