The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says that Nigeria might lose N188 billion because of the decision to let some food come into the country without paying taxes for six months.
This was said by the head of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, during a speech he gave at an event in Abuja on Tuesday.
Adeniyi pointed out that allowing these foods to come in without taxes for half a year means Nigeria will miss out on about N188.37 billion. The government believes making sure people have enough food is more important than making money right now.
He explained that dropping these taxes and import duties for six months is a big financial sacrifice for the country.
The NCS shared that from 2020 to 2023, Nigeria imported food worth over N3.8 trillion. This brought in more than N191 billion in customs duties and over N562 billion in various other government fees.
Adeniyi promised that NCS will make it easy for these food items to come through customs. They will create special lanes to speed up the process, train their staff better, and work harder to stop any illegal food from sneaking in.
The government’s effort at stabilizing the economy
Vice-President Kashim Shettima spoke about the government’s efforts to fix Nigeria’s economy at the lecture titled “Leveraging Effective Communication for Revenue Generation and Economic Development.” His message was delivered by Dr. Tope Fasua, who advises the President on Economic Affairs.
He listed some achievements of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, like increasing Nigeria’s foreign reserves to over $37 billion and ensuring a stable supply of 4,500 megawatts of electricity.
Additionally, the government has given cash assistance to over one million families to help with their economic struggles and has paid off $7 billion in old foreign debts among other actions.
Backstory
In July, the federal government, through the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, announced plans to allow a 150-day period for duties-free importation of husked brown rice, maize, and wheat to help stabilize food prices and reduce inflation.
- The federal government will also buy 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat and maize to restock the strategic grain reserve.
- Additionally, the government plans to work with others to set a Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) for commodities. They will also help increase production, especially by small farmers during the 2024/2025 farming season, and promote the production of fortified food commodities, among other plans.