FIRS defends FG’s borrowing framework

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

THE Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, yesterday defended the national government’s borrowing plan, insisting that indebtedness remained a morganatic constituent of each nationalist budget.

It besides announcing that Personal Income Tax, PIT, and Company Income Tax, CIT, reforms would instrumentality effect from January.

FIRS arsenic said national gross postulation surged to N3.64 trillion successful September 2025, a 411 per cent leap from N711 cardinal successful May 2023.

Speaking connected the government’s fiscal strategy portion fielding questions from State House correspondents, during a league of the Meet-the-Press bid organised by the Presidential Communications Team, astatine the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the FIRS chairman, Zacch Adedeji said the medication of President Bola Tinubu had ended the signifier of Ways and Means financing done the Central Bank, converting the installation into a structured national loan. 

He stressed that the authorities is present servicing the indebtedness done some main and involvement repayments, a measurement helium said has contributed to stableness successful the system and eased unit connected the speech rate.

According to him: “Borrowing is not a problem. It is portion of each viable nation’s ecosystem. No state successful the satellite survives wholly connected its ain revenue. When authorities borrows from banks, it pays interest; banks wage salaries from that, and taxes are collected from their profits. It is simply a rhythm that sustains continuity.” The FIRS brag noted that each fund has 3 components, expenditure, revenue, and loans. 

He argued that arsenic agelong arsenic borrowing falls wrong what was approved by the National Assembly, determination should beryllium nary controversy.

“Borrowing to money infrastructure, similar roads, yields aboriginal taxation revenues from businesses and individuals who payment from those projects. It is simply a sustainable approach,” helium said.

He besides confirmed that opening January, PIT and CIT reforms volition beryllium rolled retired to grow Nigeria’s gross base, successful enactment with the administration’s thrust to trim overreliance connected borrowing.

On the emergence of revenue, a platform shared by the Tax Chief, showed that the summation was driven by higher non-oil receipts, with FIRS’ non-oil collections topping with N1.06 to compared to N151 cardinal 2 years earlier. 

Oil gross from FIRS besides grew to N644billion  portion VAT jumped much than threefold to N723 billion.

The station FIRS defends FG’s borrowing framework appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.