The central bank of Nigeria (CBN), said on Tuesday it had injected $195 million into the interbank foreign exchange market, extending efforts to boost liquidity and alleviate dollar shortages.
The bank said in a statement it had released $100 million earmarked for the wholesale market, $50 million for small businesses and individuals, and $45 million for certain dollar expenses such as school fees and medical bills.
The bank will continue to intervene in the foreign exchange market to sustain liquidity, the statement said.
Reps to probe MDAs over N115bn tax liabilities
The House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to investigate the allegations that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government owe ₦115 Billion tax liabilities.
The House would also investigate the allegation that some taxes collected by banks were not remitted to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The lower chamber then mandated the Committees on Finance and Public Accounts to investigate the allegations with a view to determining the amount each Ministry, Department or Agency (MDAs) is owing and for how long the amount had been withheld, make recommendations on how to prevent re-occurrence of this illegality and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.
The resolution followed a motion moved by Hon Jerome Amadi, where he said that,..” the recent allegation by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) that some MDAs are owing the Federal Government ₦115 Billion which is such a serious issue that should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet, especially that those funds could have either been mismanaged or squandered by those Agencies”.
He added that, “a similar allegation by the then Ag Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Kabir Mashi on September 3, 2017 at a forum in Abuja that the FIRS is losing huge revenues through MDAs that award contracts to companies without Tax Identification
Number (TIN), pointing out that deductions made for Withholding Tax (WHT) or Value Added Tax (VAT) and remitted through Banks are often not transferred to the FIRS”.
To this end, he said that “with the receding economic recession in the nation, the need to increase government revenues through aggressive taxation drive, policies, remittances and accountability cannot be overemphasized as they constitute the veritable measures towards the country completely exiting recession”.
He further stated that “the low culture of individual and corporate organizations’ tax compliance, despite taxation being the means through which governments can earn extra revenues to bring about the much desired development to the country, especially in the face of declining revenues from Crude Oil”.
When the Deputy Speaker, Honourable Lasun Yusuf who presided over the session put the motion to voice vote it was supported by the lawmakers.
