Business
By Victoria Frances
UCHENNA Uwaleke, professor of Finance and Capital Market, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, has said that the emplaced cybersecurity levy on Nigerians by the Central Bank of Nigeria is ill-timed.
Uwaleke, in a statement to Realnews on Tuesday, May 7, stated: “I think the cybersecurity levy is ill-timed, coming at a time when the CBN is concerned about the high rate of financial exclusion and the increasing rate of currency circulating outside the banks.”
He said: “It carries the downside risk of discouraging financial intermediation as well as complicating the transmission of monetary policy with more people shunning the banks due to high charges. The end result is that it makes difficult effort by the CBN to tame inflation.
“So, I think the circular should be withdrawn especially against the backdrop of assurances by the government that its plan to increase revenue would not include introducing new taxes or increasing tax rates.”
To this end, Uwaleke said: “the government should suspend the policy while getting set to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms whose mandate includes streamlining multiple taxes and levies currently inhibiting the growth of businesses in Nigeria.”
Realnews reports that the CBN ordered all banks to start charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country excluding 16 listed banking deals.
According to a circular signed by the director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi; and the director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa, the cybersecurity would commence two weeks from May 6.
The apex bank, in the circular, directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others; to start the implementation of the cybersecurity charges after two weeks of the information.
“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy,’” the circular partly read.
However, the CBN listed 16 banking transactions exempted from the new cybersecurity levy.
The exempted transactions are loan disbursements and repayments; salary payments; intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer; intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank; other financial institutions instructions to their correspondent banks; interbank placements; banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa; inter-branch transfers within a bank; cheque clearing and settlements; letters of credits; banks’ recapitalisation-related funding – only bulk funds movement from collection accounts; savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers; government social welfare programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments; non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities, and educational institutions’ transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions.
Also exempted is transactions involving bank’s internal accounts such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.
A.I
Tags: Cybersecurity Levy Uchenna Uwaleke
