Okonjo-Iweala Charges Buhari On Nigerian Economy

Nigeria’s minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has offered the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, a word of advice concerning the diversification of the country’s revenue sources.

Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke yesterday in Washington DC on the theme: “Beyond the oil” at a forum tagged: “A conversation with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala”, said the incoming government should tinker with the option of raising the Value Added Tax (VAT), which at its present five per cent level, she pointed out, is the lowest in the world.

Raising the margin by another five per cent, Okonjo-Iweala argued, would make a difference in increasing revenue. She revealed that the proposal is already included in the 2015 budget before the National Assembly.

“We can look at other taxes, like the VAT, which is in the budget for 2015. We have the lowest VAT in the world, which can be doubled. This can bring another $3billion into the revenue profile,” Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said, adding that these steps are needed to drive the economy beyond oil.

She said President Goodluck Jonathan’s position, which she is recommending to the incoming government, is to reverse the ratio of crude oil-Non oil contribution to revenue from 70%-30% in favour of oil, to Non oil- crude oil contribution of 70%-30% in favour of Non-oil over the next 10 years.