By Gbadebo Olatokunbo
Recently the CBN directed Banks to comply with the collection of N50.00 on all transactions of N1,000.00 and above, which was a disincentive to the banking public and will not be any encouragement to the already Low-Savings-Culture in the country with its several implications on the economy.
What are the Mandatory-Contributions or Services of the NIPOST to Banking-Industry in Nigeria, for the agency to deserve and derive such collection spelt out in the “STAMP DUTIES ACT LFN 2004” for the bank customers?
What has banking got to do with NIPOST that makes the agency entitled to such collection on bank transactions of N1,000.00 and above from customers-citizens?
IMPLICATIONS:
i) Such desperate Revenue generation without any service rendered by NIPOST is robbery by regulation and an act of economic handicap that will fuel high cost of production which will continue to keep investors (Local/Foreign) away from Nigeria.
ii) It will affect the patronage of banks with huge withdrawal of large sums (Capital-Flight) from the system, since every transaction would attracts sanction, instead of encouragement and compensation.
iii) It will be a discouragement to the citizens from the wealth reservoir (Banking-System) and those that are still waiting in the wings to open bank accounts, thereby improving the saving culture.
iv) It will create scarcity of fund within the Banking-System, Production Industries and the General-Public.
v) This attendant scarcity of funds in the system could lead to high interest rate with its all negative influences, due to scarcity of funds.
vi) It will then lead to high cost of borrowing with its economic implications on general goods and services.
vii) Also, there would be reduction in purchasing power of the citizens on every N1,000.00 income and its negative contributions to the productive-sectors.
viii) The negative chain effect will affect other economic activities, while our low savings-culture will expand further and lead to difficulty in getting fresh capital (Local/Foreign) injected into the economy for further expansion.
ix) Reduce the profit margin of Banks and industries that will therefore reduce the speed of the economic-activities and result in low returns on investments from every economic sector.
The above are just some of the economic implications of just that “single” government policy, in-which government hopes to generate revenue and create jobs; while citizens within my circle (Pensioners) who rely more on their little returns on investments will be denied such. They will therefore continue to suffer due to the extra-tax/levy, coined under the thieving name of “CBN NIPOST STAMP DUTY ACT,” which is a window of exploitation, created for NIPOST as another tax/levy collector of N50.00 on each transaction of N1,000.00 on bank transactions without any justification.
*Alhaji OLATOKUNBO, a shareholder activist was co-Founders of Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA) in 1985 and Chairman, NTA Association of Contributory Pensioners (NTA-ACPEN).
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