The National Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME) and financial experts have called on the Federal Government (FG) to suspend any new policy that may further impoverish Nigerians.
The unanimous call was made by respondents in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Tuesday.
The interview focused on the need to stabilise the economy as an increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) is being anticipated from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent.
The Oyo State chairman NASME, Prince John Karunwi, said VAT, being a consumer tax, would make prices of goods and services shoot up.
According to him, the increase will deplete consumers’ purchasing power and reduce the quantity of items they can buy.
Karunwi said that the present situation had left most Nigerians without disposable income.
“The situation now is that after transportation, maybe people have little for feeding.
“If they now discover that for some certain products, the prices will go high, the demand for products that are not essential will, definitely, drop,” said the chairman.
He said the government should be patient and allow the economy to stabilise despite its drive to increase its internally generated revenue.
An economist, Samson Olalere, said the idea to increase VAT at this point would further deepen the hardship of the common man.
According to him, people are already grumbling about the unwarranted fuel price increase and the high cost of living, as the new minimum wage increase is grossly inadequate.
He said the government should look inward and come up with ideas that would benefit the populace and reduce the hunger of common Nigerians.
“I say no to the increase in VAT. It is an abuse of the sensitivity of Nigerians,” said the economist.
Olalere wondered why the common Nigerian would be asked to sacrifice, tighten his belt, and keep faith in the government without enough consideration for him from the same government.
A financial expert, Sola Famakinwa, corroborated the opinions of others that an increase in VAT would amount to an increase in the prices of goods and services.
“There is no way the manufacturing industries would bear the cost of increased VAT; it would be passed down to the consumers.
“If what we hear about the proposed VAT increment is true, I do not think Nigerians can bear to have more burden added to their shoulders now,” Famakinwa said.
He noted that the government needed to reduce the economic hardship by introducing subsidies for necessities that directly affect Nigerians, considering that not all are government workers.
Recall that VAT was increased from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent on Feb. 1, 2020.
However, the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms recently recommended an increase to 10 per cent from 2025, and to 15 per cent by 2027 or 2030.