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The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has said the Federal Government will be saving N8tn annually from the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policies.

Oyedele spoke during a panel session at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2024 Economic Outlook and Budget Analysis.

He, therefore, said it was critical for the government to spend the amount saved from the two policies to ameliorate the suffering of the average Nigerian.

He said, “The Nigerian people made sacrifices as a result of the fuel subsidy removal of the government; that is N4tn savings a year. We did naira floatation. It is not perfect. We are also saving another N4tn. So we are having about roughly N8tn transferred from the private pockets of the people to the government.



“So, what we are saying to the government is — can we be intentional in spending this N8tn to make sure that it impacts the people most positively? Starting with the multidimensional poverty. why is it that more than 133 million people in Nigeria are living in multidimensional poverty? So these are the conversations we are having now. We want to build a platform where we can track how these monies are being spent.”

He added, “In the committee, we tried to look at the most pressing issues we face as a country — inflation, forex instability, lack of investments. One of our recommendations is for the government to suspend some taxes. We call them nuisance taxes because they frustrate people, and we can’t even see the money in government treasury.”

According to Oyedele, there is an urgent need to create digital opportunities for the teeming youthful population because Nigeria has enough capacity to generate $20bn annually from the technology sector.


Hinting on some of the recommendations the panel has made to the Federal Government, Oyedele said there was an urgent need to promote exports, including services and intellectual property because, “Before you start exporting goods, you can export services and intangibles.”

He also said that out of the $20bn diaspora remittances recorded in 2023, more than 90 per cent of the funds did not arrive Nigeria in foreign currencies because of existing loopholes which allow middlemen to divert the foreign currencies and pay the recipients of the funds in naira.

He added. “For example, just asking Nigerian companies and businesses to pay taxes in dollars is about $3.5bn annually, but we sat and thought about it, and wondered how the idea came about.

“How does it help us, that a Nigerian company will go to the market to go and look for the little dollars that is in Nigeria so it can use it to pay the government of Nigeria? So, just amend the law and you will take that pressure away.”


Also speaking, the Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, expressed concern that the country’s penchant for operating budgets with room for deficit in the past three decades had left a debt profile that has raised concern.

Akabueze said, “In our current circumstance, we believe that our biggest fiscal challenge is raising public revenues. That is, the low public revenues against the background of the ever-increasing demand for public goods and services.

“For over two decades, we have been running deficit in our budget. These deficits have accumulated. They have been funded through debt consistently. The truth is that we haven’t paid back the debt. Now we are at a point where there are concerns about our debt. So we can’t continue with the deficit. The deficit for the 2024 budget is about 3.8 per cent of our GDP.”


Speaking further, Akabueze dismissed criticisms surrounding inordinate expenditure on the part of the government.

He noted that Nigeria was not spending enough and that emphasis should be placed on effective spending and not less spending.

He added, “Sometimes people ask — why don’t you cut expenditure? That’s not a feasible option. In the first place, we are not spending enough. If you look at our public expenditure to GDP ratio, it is below what it should be. So, spending less is not an option for us. Spending more efficiently — yes.”

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives, Bismarck Rewane, said key economic challenges have continued to plague the Nigerian economy.

These challenges, according to him, include sub-optimal and non-inclusive growth, increasing income inequality, high poverty and unemployment rate, spiraling inflation, widening fiscal imbalances, and currency pressures.

He also noted that Nigeria’s inflation maintains its upward trend, largely driven by monetary and cost-push factors.

He said external debt service to export ratio shows the external sector is vulnerable.


Rewane also blamed lack of transparency and clear policy direction, lack of effective price discovery measure, capital controls and inefficiency, and high speculation/ arbitrage activities have been for the protracted forex crisis in the country.

https://punchng.com/fg-saves-n8tn-from-subsidy-removal-fx-reform-tinubu-panel/

Very good of the government.At least the funds would be channeled into improving critical sectors of the economy and fueling growth and development.
Just hope Betta Edu Syndrome won't surface over the management of the money.

Chukwuka319:
Very good of the government.At least the funds would be channeled into improving critical sectors of the economy and fueling growth and development.
Just hope Betta Edu Syndrome won't surface over the management of the money.

Dey play




Funds that will be relooted

Chukwuka319:
Very good of the government.At least the funds would be channeled into improving critical sectors of the economy and fueling growth and development.
Just hope Betta Edu Syndrome won't surface over the management of the money.

And the government had to borrow more than 8 trillion to fund the 2024 budget...


Who is the joker here?

And where is that huge amount saved being kept?

I am in complete agreement with Mr Taiwo Oyedele,this government would save a lot of money from Subsidy Removal.It is a no brainer,Nigeria will benefit immensely from the operations of both the Dangote Refinery and the Port Harcourt Refinery when they both begin operations
This is due to the the fact the most imported products as at the Third Quarter were petroleum products.This alone cost Nigeria close to 9 billion dollars in 2022

The biggest challenge I have is the continuous fall of the Naira,it is almost unfathomable that we are still seeing the decline, something tells me there are factors which are not adding up
I am confident though that when we start the anticipated large scale economic activities from the Refineries will scale up the Rise of the Naira
It is not a matter of if,but when

ogododo:
:
He said, “The Nigerian people made sacrifices as a result of the fuel subsidy removal of the government; that is N4tn savings a year. We did naira floatation. It is not perfect. We are also saving another N4tn. So we are having about roughly N8tn transferred from the private pockets of the people to the government.

https://punchng.com/fg-saves-n8tn-from-subsidy-removal-fx-reform-tinubu-panel/

This is the truth about what they have done. Oga exposed the them without knowing. If you are saving, shouldn't it be the monies the govt claimed it was using to pay for the subsidy that it will no longer spend? How come you are taking money from private citizens and calling it savings?. They simply came up with a way to extort Nigerians more and made it seem like they did us a favour

Nlfpmod, dem still dey borrow like beggars.

Nbotee:


This is the truth about what they have done. Oga exposed the them without knowing. If you are saving, shouldn't it be the monies the govt claimed it was using to pay for the subsidy that it will no longer spend? How come you are taking money from private citizens and calling it savings?. They simply came up with a way to extort Nigerians more and made it seem like they did us a favour

Ur head get oyel. Dis people think we be mums. How dem dey borrow like borough.

Six months gone, that means una Don save 3trn naira. So where e de?

Ehen ehen ehen

Save and embezzle it, while still borrowing loans to still embezzle.

Meanwhile ebin pawa oo

We hear but don't witness, Nigeria whyyyyyy?

Nbotee:


This is the truth about what they have done. Oga exposed the them without knowing. If you are saving, shouldn't it be the monies the govt claimed it was using to pay for the subsidy that it will no longer spend? How come you are taking money from private citizens and calling it savings?. They simply came up with a way to extort Nigerians more and made it seem like they did us a favour

Are you not spending from your pocket to buy fuel that is not subsidized while Government keeps the erstwhile subsidy funds in their own pocket?

Government is making you spend money that you were saving, while they are saving money they were spending. Same logic applies to the increased dollar exchange.

English is not that difficult.

ipob is coming

.

To? how do you "TO" on something you claimed "YOU HAVE" removed?

The cost of subsidy removal outweighs the benefits. The only way this will start to make meaning is when there is steady power supply. And when we steady power supply it is no longer necessary to subsidize as only rich Nigerians will be needing fuel for their cars.

Once you hear...


Will
To
Implement
Should


Just know na scam

And how is it going to improve our livelihood. The way this guys cap nonsense to sensible nigerians

👍🏽

8 trillions annually yet poverty full everywhere in the country

Chukwuka319:
Very good of the government.At least the funds would be channeled into improving critical sectors of the economy and fueling growth and development.
Just hope Betta Edu Syndrome won't surface over the management of the money.

Someone hiding under someone's identity

"the Federal Government will be saving N8tn annually from the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policies.

I stopped reading her because it's obvious that Oyedele is an idiot with his head deep inside Tinubu's asshole.

Where is the exchange rate unification?

The fool is living in the fantasy league version of Nigeria where everything is true because the government says so.

ALSO, everybody knows the savings will have ZERO positive effect on the masses. But the pockets and account balances of the criminals in power will balloon out of proportion.