Recession: Anambra state governor suspends taxes and levies on wheel barrow pushers, hawkers, others
As part
of efforts to cushion the harsh effects of the current economic recession, the
governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, yesterday, announced the immediate
suspension of sale of emblems, collection of wheel barrow tax and hawkers permit
in all parts of the state. Governor Obiano announced this in a broadcast
entitled ‘Rising from the brink,’ yesterday September 21st.
He said his administration had lowered Okada and Keke levies to N50 and N200 daily respectively to cushion the effect of the recession.
“I am happy to announce to you that I have come
up with a stimulus package that will ease the pain of the recession and help
our dear state bounce back to prosperity. I want to assure you that the
government of Anambra State is fully aware of the difficulties you are going
through in your families, in your businesses and in your various communities .
I wish to assure you that you are not alone. I feel your pain. Our country’s
painful journey into the current recession is fairly known to us. The events
that triggered this decline are very well documented in the public domain. I
wish to assure you that after a careful study of the situation,I am more
convinced now than ever before that with our fundamentals, our infinite
capacity to come back from deficits and our implicit faith in God, our story
should be different in Anambra State.
Consequently, our intervention which comes in
four key areas which are tax relief programme, special intervention programmes
for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and Large Enterprises, social
intervention programme for low income households and intervention in
infrastructure-for-jobs. The objective of the tax relief programme is to
evaluate existing taxes, levies and fees in the state and introduce some waivers
and in some cases, scrap the collection of some illegal levies imposed on our
people to cushion the impact of the recession on households in the state. Next
is the special intervention programme for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs
and large enterprises. This sector of the economy accounts for over 800,000
jobs in Anambra State today. These businesses are suffering from the acute drop
in the supply of foreign exchange at the moment and are left with two options;
scale down their operations or shut down completely. My role as your governor
is to envisage challenges and provide solutions that will ensure a speedy
comeback from difficult situations that require the power and might of a state
government.
This is what my administration has done in the past
two years through Anambra Small Business Agency. This agency is a very
important institution I created to serve as a catalyst to our domestic economy.
So far, ASBA has effectively distributed the sum of N1.5bn as start-up capital
to many SMEs and MSMEs in Anambra State. These funds are part of the N2bn that
the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, made available to states about two years ago
to help stimulate local entrepreneurship across the country.”he said
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