Oyedele warns against tax burden on poor people as G-24 seeks concessional lending support

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has warned against additional tax burden on vulnerable people and productive sectors of the economy at a time of global economic uncertainty.

Mr Oyedele noted that due to global uncertainty and inflationary pressure, it is a wrong time for governments to impose new taxes on people.

Mr Oyedele spoke after the meetings of the Group of Twenty-Four (G24) on the sidelines of the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Bangkok, Thailand.

“This is the wrong time to impose new taxes or increase the burden of tax, particularly on the vulnerable population and productive sectors of the economy,” Mr Oyedele, who is also chairman of the G-24, said.

“The measures, like you ask, will be first for every country to look inwards, looking inward to find areas of savings, areas of revenue mobilisation, but also bearing in mind this is the wrong time to impose new taxes or increase the burden of tax, particularly on the vulnerable population and productive sectors of the economy,” he said of measures to support the economy.

Speaking on the balance between taxation and debt, he noted that striking a balance remains key.

“If you collect taxes, you raise the money now, and that itself has a lot of trade-offs. What taxes are you collecting? You collect taxes from the most vulnerable, and this will deprive them of money to provide food, health, education.

“Debt is future taxes, so it’s not one or the other. It’s to strike a balance, bearing in mind ultimately that the essence of tax and of debts is to cater for the people.”

The minister explained that debt remains necessary for economic growth but should be used to support employment and growth.

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“Borrowing and debt financing is a necessary condition for growth, and every country emerging, developing must be able to apply debt financing in a way that is overall of positive impact, particularly to stimulate job-rich and inclusive growth,” he said.

Meanwhile, in its communique, the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G24) called for cheaper concessional financing to ease the burden.

Iyabo Masha, the Director of the G24 Secretariat, noted that there has been a change to global debt restructuring architecture, and this could help countries secure faster resolutions of their debt concerns.