- September 6, 2021
- Posted by: adminer
- Category: Social Economic
Economist and Private Sector Advocate, Dr Muda Yusuf, has counselled the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance to halt moves to impose excise duty on any segment of the Nigerian manufacturing sector.
Yusuf, also the former Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), gave the advice on Monday in Lagos.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), had on Sept. 1, at the 2022–2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework [MTEF], proposed the introduction of excise duty on soft drink production in the country.
Yusuf, however, described the move as ill-timed, inappropriate and detrimental to the growth of the manufacturing sector.
He stated that the proposal was also a negation of the economic recovery and job creation objectives of the federal government and detrimental to the job creation and poverty reduction commitments of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Many upcoming small businesses in the beverage sector would be hard hit by this proposal. The millions of micro enterprises in the soft drinks’ distribution chain will be adversely impacted by the imposition of the excise tax.
“The reality is that Nigerian manufacturing companies are going through tremendous stress at the moment, affecting sales, turnover, profitability, shareholder value and the sustainability of investments in the sector.