Federal Government said on Thursday that plans have been concluded to bring in an additional 700,000 companies into the tax net to shore- up its revenues.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo made the disclosure in Lagos during the 2016 Presidential Policy Dialogue Session, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, saying efforts were being made by the government to increase non-oil revenue and address the economic challenges facing the country.
Osinbanjo, who said a great effort had been made to improve non-oil revenues for the country, disclosed that areas being focused included bringing an additional 700,000 companies into the tax net as compared to the targeted 500,000 set at the beginning of the year.
“A great effort has been made to improve non-oil revenues. This includes bringing an additional 700,000 companies into the tax net as compared to the targeted 500,000 set at the beginning of the year.
“We have had three such interventions, including the latest loan of N90bn as part of a fiscal responsibility plan for states. These interventions have helped to boost household spending, which were key steps to prevent the economy from falling into deep recession,” the vice- president said.
Speaking further, Vice- President Osinbajo said as part of ways addressing the current challenges, the government intended to keep capital spending in the budget at a minimum of 30 per cent in this fiscal year.
Other policy instruments being applied to help the economy, Osinbajo said include the Treasury Single Account, “which has brought transparency into inflows and outflows of government monies,” adding, “Accordingly, we have already made capital releases of N332bbn, with another N100bn set to be released in the next few days,” he added.
He equally disclosed that th country’s milled rice capacity was being increased from three million tons annually to 10 million tons of paddy annually.
“FIRS has achieved 73.17 per cent of its target for the first half of the year. Similarly, milled rice capacity is being increased from 3 million tons annually to 10 million tons of paddy annually.
“The present administration is a strong believer in public-private dialogue. Our immediate tasks to achieve our economic objectives are: Reduce fiscal and forex imbalances; Boost dollar liquidity; Curb inflation; Lower interest rate and ensure lending to the real sector; Increase FDIs and FPI by sustaining enabling policies,” Osinbajo assured.
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