₦airaland Forum

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has declared that this is the wrong time for governments to impose new taxes or increase the tax burden on vulnerable people and productive sectors of the economy.

Oyedele spoke on the sidelines of the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Bangkok, Thailand, where he presented the communiqué of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G24).


According to him, governments should balance revenue mobilisation with the need to protect vulnerable populations from additional financial pressure.

“This is the wrong time to impose new taxes or increase the tax burden, particularly on vulnerable populations and productive sectors of the economy,” Oyedele said.

Responding to a question on how developing countries could reduce debt-servicing costs without cutting essential public spending, the minister said governments should look inward for savings and improve revenue mobilisation without imposing additional burdens on citizens and businesses.

“The measures, as you asked, would first involve every country looking inward to identify areas for savings and revenue mobilisation, while bearing in mind that this is the wrong time to impose new taxes or increase the tax burden, particularly on vulnerable populations and productive sectors of the economy,” he said.

Oyedele said borrowing remained necessary for economic growth but stressed that it should be used to support job creation and inclusive development.

“Borrowing and debt financing are necessary conditions for growth, and every emerging and developing country must be able to use debt financing in a way that has an overall positive impact, particularly by stimulating job-rich and inclusive growth,” he said.

He also said public financing, which is often constrained, should be directed towards essential services such as healthcare and education, while private capital could help meet other investment needs.

On the balance between taxation and borrowing, Oyedele said neither option should be considered in isolation.

“If you collect taxes, you raise the money now, and that itself has a lot of trade-offs. What taxes are you collecting? If you collect taxes from the most vulnerable, you deprive them of money to provide food, healthcare and education,” he said.

According to Oyedele, “debt is future taxes, so it’s not one or the other. It’s about striking a balance, bearing in mind that, ultimately, the purpose of taxation and borrowing is to cater for the people.”

Daily Trust reports that the meeting is holding from October 12 to October 18, 2026. It is being attended by delegations from over 190 countries.

The Nigeria delegation include Chief Executive Officers of financial institutions, representatives of the private sector, Civil Society Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders.

The meeting, aimed at promoting global macro-economic financial stability along IMF’s long-standing mission, provides policy advice, surveillance of member countries’ economies, and financial assistance to countries facing balance-of-payments issues.

aworatak:
Fear of looming electoral defeat can make people sing in different tunes.
The informed electorate should not fall for their cheap tricks.

Racoon:
“The care of human life and happiness is the only legitimate object of good government." ( Jeffersonian Credo ).

“No nation ever grew more prosperous by taxing its citizens beyond their capacity to pay.” - former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

TheStoriesOfMan:
Anything to relieve Nigerians of poverty and ignorance is welcome.

Common sense dictates that now is not the time to implement any tax law.

Like where your sensitivity to extreme situations?

You no fit to implement your draconian tax laws after the elections?

Na wa ooo

Iceberg3:
See typical Nigerian wey suffer neva tire
😂😂😂

nairalanda1:
Nice quotes, but the problem for Nigeria is that it essentially leaves the government with no option but to borrow and borrow and borrow more money when the oil money or revenue is not enough, which is basically 90% of the time.

(Also Thatcher did introduce the poll tax in 1990, because of declining revenues , which led to riots, and which eventually brought down her government).

Japan has a declining population, and by extension, a declining tax revenue base, which means it's government has to borrow more and more money to pay for the pensions and welfare and government projects. Nigeria has a poor tax to gdp ratio, which forces government borrowing up when oil revenues are low, leading to the massive debt we have now...that ironically is forcing government borrowing up

It would be a good thing if the over 70 percent of working NIgerians who do not pay tax because of working in the informal sector pay some tax...as it may reduce government borrowing (and force the government to be more accountable, once people see money leaving their pockets and nothing happening...well what happened in France would be child's play compared to what would happen in NIgeria).

Nigeria cannot run on selling resources alone, son.

(At this point, he would block me for the next 3 weeks.).

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”

As much as people complain about taxes worldwide, if every Nigerian that paid tax stopped paying tax, government borrowing would increase even further, until the people who lend us money would get tired of giving us free money all the time. Then we would all live in Taprobane...in the present era.


I wish most nigerians paid tax, then we won't have a tinubu ruling us, because the corrupt would stay away from office since people would now hold them more accountable for how their money is being spent.

Blunt99:
Let your principal curb corruption first, and plug the leakages, then the taxes can come in.