Federal tax authorities defended national borrowing practices during Tuesday's Presidential Villa media briefing. FIRS Chairman Zacch Adedeji justified government debt policies while announcing Personal Income Tax and Company Income Tax changes beginning January. Revenue collections reached N3.64 trillion in September 2025, marking a 411 percent increase from N711 billion recorded in May 2023. The Tinubu administration terminated Central Bank Ways and Means financing and restructured these arrangements into formal federal loans.
Debt servicing through principal and interest payments stabilized the economy and reduced exchange rate pressures. Adedeji emphasized that borrowing represents standard practice among viable nations worldwide. Banks receive government interest payments, distribute employee salaries, and generate taxable profits that create continuous economic cycles. National budgets contain three essential elements: expenditure, revenue, and loans. Infrastructure investments through borrowed funds produce future tax collections from benefiting businesses and citizens. Tax reforms will broaden Nigeria's revenue foundation and decrease borrowing dependency, with non-oil receipts driving recent collection increases.
Debt servicing through principal and interest payments stabilized the economy and reduced exchange rate pressures. Adedeji emphasized that borrowing represents standard practice among viable nations worldwide. Banks receive government interest payments, distribute employee salaries, and generate taxable profits that create continuous economic cycles. National budgets contain three essential elements: expenditure, revenue, and loans. Infrastructure investments through borrowed funds produce future tax collections from benefiting businesses and citizens. Tax reforms will broaden Nigeria's revenue foundation and decrease borrowing dependency, with non-oil receipts driving recent collection increases.
