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Mr. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has disclosed that the federal government is considering giving companies that hire additional employees a straight tax relief.
The federal government will also suspend import tariffs on a greater number of commodities in an effort to slow the rate of inflation increase.
Citing an exclusive interview with AIT’s Money Line, he said as much, adding that the measures are a component of the inflation reduction Act, which the president is expected to sign in a few weeks. He claims that the fiscal measures are intended to lower firms’ production costs, which have gone up as a result of the current administration’s other policies and the poor exchange rate. According to him: “The inflation reduction act will now contain a range of import duties, exemptions, lowering of tariffs, and outright tax breaks for employment. If you employ more people, you will be given a tax break against it. So, a range of fiscal incentives will be laid out in an executive order which Mr. President will in due course sign.” He also disclosed to BrandSpur local news platform, that the federal government imports petrol at a cost of almost $600 million every month. He said that bordering nations, including Central Africa, that profit off Nigeria’s gasoline imports are to blame for the high cost of fuel imports.
Continuing, according to Edun, a concentrated effort is made to guarantee the supply of food farmed locally. In the short term, he claims, in addition to distributing grains from the strategic reserves, a window has opened for importation because of the President’s pledge to lower prices and provide food swiftly.
He gave everyone the assurance that this action would not hurt neighbourhood farmers because imports would only be permitted once local resources had run out. Edun clarified that using all locally grown product that is available in the markets or with millers would be one of the requirements for importation, with auditors in place to confirm this. FG has not requested Ways and Means advances from CBN.
He pointed out that the goals of these interventions are to lower interest rates, stabilise exchange rates, and lessen inflation in order to foster an atmosphere that is favourable to investment and the creation of jobs.
The minister however, clarified that they have not made a Ways and Means (or Ways and Means) request to the central bank for money to cover government bills or salaries. Rather, they have used market mechanisms to lower their debt, which is essential to sustaining a robust economy.
He made it clear that just because the cap was increased to 10%, it doesn’t mean that it will be applied. As a safety measure, this increase offers more flexibility to meet payments in the event that there is a delay between incoming money and expenses.
