The Federal Government is preparing to implement a significant policy change by suspending import duties on essential goods like staple food items, drugs, and other vital commodities for an initial six-month period. This policy shift is outlined in an Executive Order titled “Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measures) Order 2024,” awaiting President Bola Tinubu’s signature, expected in April.
As per a document acquired by Punch, the order proposes the temporary removal of import duties on crucial commodities such as fertilizers, poultry feed, flour, and grains. The aim is to reduce the cost of these essential supplies, thereby easing economic pressures on Nigerian consumers and lowering the overall cost of living.
Additionally, the Executive Order will mandate the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to collaborate on developing a strategy to provide low-interest loans to sectors critical for the country’s economy, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing.
The order will suspend import duties and other tariffs for six months on staple food items, raw materials for manufacturing, agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seedlings, pharmaceutical products, poultry feeds, flour, and grains.
Moreover, the President is expected to suspend the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on Automotive Gas Oil, select basic food items, semi-processed staple food items such as noodles and pasta, raw-material inputs for food item manufacturing, electricity, public transportation, agricultural inputs and produce, and pharmaceutical products for the remainder of the year.
Furthermore, various taxes and levies, including road haulage tax, transportation-related charges, fees on bicycles, trucks, canoes, wheelbarrows, and carts, business premises registration fees, and taxes and levies on shops, kiosks, and markets, as well as animal trade and produce sales tax, will be suspended for six months.
In line with the Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP) report, the government is considering importing paddy rice and maize into the country. The ASAP report recommends an executive order on paddy rice importation to millers to address the escalating food inflation across Nigeria. Additionally, the document suggests the suspension of import duties and VAT on specified items, including the importation of paddy rice by millers, and an import duty exchange rate peg.
