COVID-19:IMF Caution Nigeria To Slow Down On Tax Drive

By Olamilekan Alani

In order to support the ease of operating business in Nigeria,  the  International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Nigeria to slow down on its aggressive tax drive due to the impact of the COVID-19 on businesses and households

The fund, however, told the federal government to continue to push for policies that are supportive of its citizens, even as it commended the monetary policies initiatives that have been introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to cushion the impact of the pandemic on the people.

The Director of the IMF’s African Department, Mr. Abebe Selassie, said this yesterday during a media briefing on the latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, held in Washington.

Selassie said: “Nigeria is an oil exporting country; so, the impact of the pandemic is being compounded by the sharp decline in oil prices. We are projecting that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth would contract around 5.4 per cent this year; so, it’s a very significant hit to income.
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