FG to suspend import duties on staple food items, drugs, others for 6months to ease inflation – Report

The Federal Government is considering a six-month suspension of import duties on staple food items, drugs, and other essential items as a measure to curb inflation, according to a report sent to President Bola Tinubu for review and approval.

Bloomberg reported that President Tinubu is yet to sign the document for implementation.

The Inflation Reduction and Price Stability Order, as outlined in the document, will mandate the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria to devise a plan for offering low-interest loans to the agriculture, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors.

“This productive deployment will ultimately improve outputs and reduce inflation,” the document said.

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The president is also likely to suspend value-added tax (VAT) on automotive gas oil, some basic food items and semi-processed staple food items such as noodles and pasta, raw-material inputs for the manufacture of food items, electricity and public transportation, as well as agricultural inputs and produce and pharmaceutical products for the rest of the year.