The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has charged the Federal Government to urgently consider the downward review of taxes as a fiscal step towards supporting business enterprises and by so doing, check the rising cost of goods and services in the country.
The President of the organized private sector (OPS) group, Dr. Abdulrasheed Yerima, was quoted as seeking the fiscal reprieve during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
In addition, the association’s leader advocated the need for the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) and other regulatory agencies to reduce the clearing charges and fees on imported raw materials, especially on manufacturing equipment powered by gas.
According to him, the fiscal measure, if adopted, will enable MSMEs to substitute the use of diesel for gas in powering their generators and their machines, thereby, addressing the challenges of power and transportation.
While urging the government to engage with relevant stakeholders to review charges by regulatory bodies, the NASME President lamented that instead of reducing charges in recent times, the revenue agencies were increasing the charges even when the country has not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact.
The NASME President: “More so, the war in Ukraine is affecting major players in the oil and gas industry, necessitating the need to embrace renewable energy and other alternatives to boost production at a reduced cost.
“The impacts of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have brought us to where we are today but we believe there would be alternatives. I can assure you that opportunities will emerge, it is not going to continue like this”, he added.
