- FG targets 25% revenue-to-GDP ratio in 2024
The Federal Government says it is targeting the achievement of 25% revenue to gross domestic product ratio in the 2024 fiscal year.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, stated this on Wednesday while declaring open the 2024 strategic management retreat of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, held in Abuja.
He hinted that the Federal Government may not be considering more loans for now stressing that given what is happening around the world, the high and sustained increase in interest rates, borrowing is not the way to go.
According to him, the government would place more emphasis on domestic resource mobilisation and equity as opposed to debt.
The Minister said there is a plan under the fiscal policy and tax reform committee to increase the total raw revenue, which is tax revenue plus the revenue that is earned from government owned enterprises to about 25% of GDP from its current level of about 15%.
“We have resolved not to focus on expensive debts, but on domestic resource mobilization. That is why the 2024 budget anticipates a 77% increase in internally generated revenue of the Federal Government and what needs to be done now is for those government owned enterprises to accept the challenge to live within the regulations of Fiscal Responsibility Act,” the Minister said.
While tasking the FIRS to achieve a higher tax to GDP ratio, the Minister said, “Our tax to GDP was previously very low, lower than 10%, other African countries were doing much higher, we expect that working with the tax reform committee you will be able to move our tax to GDP Ratio to 18% in the next couple of years. I hope that you will be able to surpass that figure.”
Speaking on borrowing from the World Bank, Edun said, “Taking a World Bank loan is about wanting to get our own share as a member of the World Bank group, our own share of concessionary financing, International Development Association financing, which is virtually free money of 1% or 2% for 40 years.
“It is given as a seal of approval for the policies of the government of the day. That is why in seeking to process a $1.5 billion financing from the World Bank, we are looking for free money that is going to be given not for a specific project, in agriculture, education or in health, it is money that come straight to balance of payment for the government to spend as it sees fit in any given area of the economy.
“When you get that, it is a signal to the rest of the world that what you are doing is on the right track and is to be supported by the international community.”
Also speaking, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, commended the efforts of FIRS in increasing government revenue.
She said it is worthy of note that currently, the FIRS contributes 70% of the total federation revenue.
While pledging to support the service to help it achieve higher results, she charged the management and staff to remain committed to the discharge of their duties.
In his welcome address, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, said one of the aims of the retreat was to unveil the new FIRS organizational structure, which he described as a critical milestone in the Service’s commitment to revolutionize tax administration in Nigeria.
He said the cornerstone of this paradigm shift is the establishment of a customer-centric organizational structure designed to streamline processes and enhance efficiency in tax operations.
“We are not merely adapting to change; we are leading it. The forthcoming structure, set to kick off from February 2024, embodies our dedication to modernize and digitize the tax administration landscape in Nigeria.
“In our pursuit for a more efficient and contemporary tax administration methodology, we are embracing an integrated tax approach, leveraging technology at every step. This approach positions FIRS at the forefront of innovation, ensuring that we meet the evolving needs of our taxpayers in a rapidly changing world.
“The structure advocates for a comprehensive approach to taxpayer services, consolidating our core functions and support under one umbrella. By tailoring our services to specific taxpayer segments, we aim to simplify the taxpayer experience. No more complexities, no more overlaps—just a seamless and user-friendly interaction for every taxpayer,” Adedeji said.
Stock market hits historic record, crosses 100,000bpts mark, investors reap N1.62trn
The Nigerian Exchange Limited achieved a historic milestone on Wednesday as its All-Share Index notched a 3.00 percent gain to hit a new record of 101,571.11 basis points, thus offering investors the opportunity to reap N1.62 trillion in historic rally.
The journey towards crossing the 100,000-basis point index mark started last August when the NGX ASI crossed the 60,000 mark for the first time, before accelerating speedily to cross the 70,000 mark in November.
However, the market took on a new life this January as it crossed both the 80,000 and 90,000 points earlier and crowned it up by crossing the 100,000 mark on Wednesday.
Analysis of the market activities shows that the share prices of stocks such as WAPIC, BUACEMENT, JAPAULGOLD, UPL and TRIPPLEG played a key rose in the index growth as they rose by 10.00 percent, 9.98 percent, 9.91 percent, 9.82 percent and 9.69 percent, respectively.
The positive trading activity saw the year-to-date gain of the Nigerian bourse climbed to 35.84 percent, as the Exchange recorded 35 gainers, a higher number than 32 losers reported.
Resultantly, the market capitalization of listed equities experienced a surge of 3.00 percent to N55.58 trillion.
NEM, CADBURY, TIP, MAYBAKER and MCNICHOLS emerged as the top five decliners for the day, as they experienced unfavourable share price movement of losing 10.00 percent, 9.96 percent, 9.92 percent, 9.89 percent and 9.88 percent, respectively.
The general market bullish mood was reflected in the sectoral performance as three of the five sub-sector gauges closed in the green.
The Industrial Goods sector led the gainers with a 7.64 percent increase, buoyed by buy interest in BUACEMENT, DANGCEMENT and WAPCO, followed by the Consumer Goods and Oil/Gas indexes with gains of 4.07 percent and 0.09 percent.
However, the Banking and Insurance indexes posted losses of 0.61 percent and 1.52 percent, respectively.
Notwithstanding the positive momentum of the ASI, tepid trading was observed on the stock exchange.
The total deals, volume and traded value nosedived by 27.18 percent, 34.65 percent and 50.62 percent to 12,080 trades, 488.49 million units and N8.04 billion, respectively.
At the conclusion of the trading session, TRANSCORP took the spotlight as the most traded security in terms of volume and value with 95.11 million units worth N1.59 billion, traded across 1,207 deals.
