Amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic, All Progressives Congress stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has asked the Federal Government to stop collection of the Value Added Tax immediately.
Recall that the government of the President, Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had last month increased VAT from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.
However, Tinubu said the government must reduce the sufferings of Nigerians by introducing tax cuts while the Central Bank of Nigeria must reduce interest rates
Tinubu said this in a statement he wrote in commemoration of his 68th birthday.
He wrote, “Government should announce a tax credit or partial tax reduction for companies or firms. VAT should be suspended for the next two to four months. This will help lower import costs and protect against shortages.
“We need to protect the people from food shortages and high prices. As such, we must quickly improve farm-to-market delivery of agricultural produce. Also, government should initiate a crash program to decrease spoilage of agricultural produce by construction of storage facilities in local marketplaces in and around major cities and towns throughout the country.”
The APC leader also said the United States Federal Reserve had printed more dollars in order to boost the economy.
He said Nigeria could also do the same.
Tinubu added, “Already, the price of oil has fallen to less than 30 dollars a barrel. This will bring a dollar shortfall. This does not, however, necessitate a corresponding shortfall in public sector naira expenditures.
“The US controls dollar issuance. We control naira issuance as is our sovereign right. Just as America has used its sovereign right to issue its currency to stave economic disaster, so too may Nigeria issue naira for the same purpose.”
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