Executive Council approves Economic Stabilisation Bill

Temitope Mustapha, Abuja

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Economic Stabilisation Bill, aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s economic stability and growth.

The bill, which will soon be transmitted to the National Assembly, contains key provisions to amend the Foreign Exchange Act, encouraging electronic transactions over cash to increase liquidity.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after the FEC meeting, presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Edun added that the bill empowers the Central Bank to attract international funds, facilitate foreign exchange transactions and remittances to Nigeria.

Additionally, the bill proposes reforms to the Companies Income Tax Act, enabling Nigerians to provide services to foreign companies without requiring them to register in Nigeria. This move is expected to create new employment, income, and entrepreneurship opportunities.

“The Federal Executive Council did pass for onward transmission to National Assembly, Economic Stabilization Bill. It contains, for example, items that change the Foreign Exchange Act to give greater liquidity and encourage the use of electronic rather than cash means, for example. 

“It gives the Central Bank even greater ability to bring in and attract funds such as the money from international money transfer organizations and others that want to transact foreign exchange business and in fact, remit funds to Nigeria.

“There’s also a proposal to amend the Companies Income Tax Act basically to allow Nigerians with the skills, the expertise and the relevant relationships to be able to stay in Nigeria, and provide services to foreign companies at home, without those companies having to come and register in Nigeria, thereby opening up a whole vista of employment opportunities, income opportunities, and entrepreneurship opportunities. So those are the types of measures that are contained in bill”, he said.

Edun also revealed that the Fiscal Responsibility Act will be overhauled, guiding government-owned enterprises in sharing surpluses and building reserve funds from their revenues.

“There are changes to Fiscal Responsibility Act as well that affect in particular government-owned enterprises and how they are to share their surpluses and how they are to put in place reserve funds for building surpluses from their revenues”, the Minister added.