The World Bank says certain revenue reforms over the next three years can raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to about seven per cent and bring in an additional N10 trillion.
Mr Rajul Awasthi, Senior Public Sector Specialist at the bank, said this in a presentation on Domestic Revenue Mobilisation at a virtual media parley in Abuja on Thursday.
He said that in the long term, fundamental reform of the tax system was needed to stimulate post-pandemic investment and economic growth.
According to him, coordinated policy reforms combined with revenue administration enhancements are essential to achieve revenue potential.
\u201cAs Nigeria tries to build back better after the COVID-19 crisis, the approach to revenue mobilisation needs to be more strategic.
\u201cNot just taxing more, but taxing better; not just how much to collect, but how to collect, what to collect, and from whom.\u201d
He said that the economy and revenue sources had been further hit hard by COVID-19 and 2020 Nigeria recorded its deepest quarterly contraction since the 1980s, but exited the recession in quarter four.
However, mitigating the impact and laying the foundation for a strong recovery requires several policy responses, including mobilising revenues.
Recommending some measures, he said that managing COVID-19 outbreak was important while enhancing macroeconomic management to boost investor confidence…<\/p>\n\n\n\n