‘Payment Of Levies, Taxes In Foreign Currency Not Helping Our Economy’ – Oyedele

The chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reform, Taiwo Oyedele, has suggested that paying taxes and levies in foreign currency was not helping the country’s economy.

Speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Oyedele said that the development was causing more unnecessary demand for forex, insisting that when companies cannot access foreign currencies, they also do not pay on time. 

“There’s a requirement for Nigerian companies & businesses to pay some levies and taxes in foreign currency, which is not helping our economy by creating unnecessary demand in the forex market,” Oyedele said.

His comment amidst Naira’s poor performance in the forex market. On Friday, Naija News reported that the official Investor and Exporter forex window witnessed a decline in naira value on Thursday, as the US Dollar supply decreased by 46.77 per cent.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, this decline amounted to 13.78 per cent from the previous day’s closing rate of N840.53 against the US Dollar. Additionally, the market saw a decreased volume of dollars traded, with the turnover falling from $198.21m on Wednesday to $105.50m.

However, experts have blamed the deterioration of the value of the country’s currency on the increased scarcity of forex.