Nigeria’s finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, has revealed the government’s plans to introduce new taxes in a bid to increase the revenue of the country. This was disclosed at a public hearing on the 2019 budget on Wednesday, organized by the Senate and House of Representatives committees on appropriation.
This comes almost a week after the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced an increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) by the government, to fund the new minimum wage.
Without giving specific details on the new taxes, the minister appealed for the support of the National Assembly on a new initiative devised by the federal government to increase revenue and fund the budget for this year.
According to Ahmed, the initiative is segregated into three thematic areas. The first area is sustainability in revenue generation, with a focus on improving the collection of taxes, blocking loopholes, and cooperating with trading partners to manage performance, deregulate and provide funding for the energy sector. Read more here.
Below is the Ventures Africa Weekly Economic Index, for the week ending 29th of March, 2019. This economic index gives you a glimpse into other recent activities in Nigeria’s economy as well as changes and prices that could affect the economy:
Nigerian Stock Exchange
Data released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as of 29th March 2019, showed that the All-Share Index depreciated by 0.31 percent from the previous week ending 22nd March 2019. Market capitalization at the close of trading during the week under review was N11.672 trillion, a 0.51 percent increase from N11.612 trillion recorded the previous week. The All Share-Index for the week under review closed at 31,041.42.
Top five price gainers and decliners in the week under review:
Top five price gainers
Eterna Plc.
Red Star Express Plc.
Ikeja Hotel Plc.
C & I Leasing Plc.
Associated Bus Company Plc.
Top five price decliners
Fidelity Bank Plc.
Dangote Flour Mills
Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc.
Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc.
Academy Press Plc.
How did the Naira fare?
The Naira remained unchanged against the dollar last week as it sat at 361 naira per dollar on the 29th of March 2019, the same value it had recorded a week before.
How did the price of oil fare?
Brent oil prices closed out the week on the 29th of March 2019 at $66.67 per barrel, the same price it closed a week earlier. However, it has risen to more than $68 on Monday and could rise further as OPEC and Donald Trump are set for a showdown over supply cuts. There are also speculations that oil prices could rise above $75 by summer as the Saudis are planning to further cut oil supplies to drive up demand, coupled with the US sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan oil.
