The bill seeks to:
- Adopt appropriate counter-cyclical fiscal policies to respond to the economic and revenue challenges precipitated by the decline in international oil prices, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigeria economy;
- Reform extant fiscal policies to prioritize job creation, economic growth, socio-economic development, domestic revenue mobilization, as well as to foster closer coordination with monetary and trade policies;
- Provide fiscal relief for taxpayers by reducing the applicable minimum tax rate for two (2) consecutive years of assessment as well as reforming the commencement and cessation rules for small businesses;
- Propose measures to fund the Federal Government’s COVID-19 pandemic responses and introduce provisions to enhance the recovery of corporate donations towards responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as similar crises in the future;
- Amend certain aspects of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to align with the 1999 Constitution as well as to enhance fiscal efficiencies by controlling the cost to revenue ratio of key state and government-owned enterprises; and
- Amend the Public Procurement Act, to implement key procurement reforms previously proposed by the National Assembly in 2019 to extend the scope of the Act to the Federal Judiciary and Legislature, accelerate procurement processes, increase mobilization fees thresholds and provide for essential e-procurement reforms.
The Bill went through the Third reading.