The Federal Government could give stipends to Nigerians to cushion the effect of sit at at home occasioned by the deadly coronavirus epidemic.
This was disclosed by Finance, Budget and Planning Minister Zainab Ahmed, while speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels TV.
According to the Minister “We have a number of fiscal incentives that we have thought through and designed but we have to do a couple of engagements before we announce them because of our fragile fiscal situation,” she said.
“We don’t want to rush and make announcements of tax cuts or tax holidays without looking at the full picture of how it affects the federal government, states and how it affects businesses.
“The government is looking at the possibility of giving out stipends, increasing the stipends that it giving out to the category of Nigerians that are classified as poor and vulnerable.
“Also, we are looking at the category of citizens that have been affected by the nature of their jobs by this pandemic. For example, airports are closed so people who run taxi services at the airport will be at home with nothing to do. So we have to carefully identify the groups that will get these interventions. We are also not forgetting businesses.”
She said the government is still trying to determine the method of disbursing the funds and ensuring maximum impact given Nigeria’s large population.
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