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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the minister of finance, on Wednesday said the Federal Government was contemplating a downward review of tariff on importation of rice.
Okonjo-Iweala, who disclosed this while answering questions at the ‘Budget 2014 Jam’ in Abuja said that the drop in the tariff would reduce smuggling of the commodity into the country.
Budget 2014 Jam is a youth online programme where the minister answers questions on the Federal Government’s 2014 budget from youths across the nation.
The three-day programme, which began on Tuesday is organised by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with IBM Technology, a telecommunication firm.
The minister said that the existing 110 percent duty on the importation of rice was encouraging smuggling of the commodity into the country.
“We increased the tariff to110 percent, and it encouraged some people to go and grow rice and we grew 1.1 million metric tons of the product.
“But it also encouraged smuggling by neighbouring countries because they immediately dropped their own tariffs to 10 percent,” she said.
She added that the rice issue was similar to tariff on importation of used vehicles, saying, “We are watching it now to see what the appropriate tariff to be paid on it will be.”
