The Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has said that Nigeria targets being among the first 70 countries by 2023 in World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking.

Mustapha spoke at the weekend during the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Corporate Dinner and Merit Awards in Lagos.

The SGF, who was chairman of the occasion, said that currently, the country had moved up from 170 to 131, after President Muhammad Buhari signed the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) in July 2016.

NAN reports that he expressed optimism that with the PEBEC initiative, the 2023 target would be achieved.

Mustapha said that the government, in its bid to improve efficiency and productivity in the industry and country, had created the council to ensure an enabling environment for port efficiency.

“Government will continue to support the maritime sector because on it rests opportunities for wealth creation and economic growth,” the SGF said.

He said that there was still a long way to go, but there was need to recognise the progress that had been made so far.

The 2020 Finance Bill recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari is in line with the business ease target.

While presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, Buhari said the bill has “five strategic objectives, in terms of achieving incremental, but necessary, changes to our fiscal laws.

“These objectives are; Promoting fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation; Reforming domestic tax laws to align with global best practices; Introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets; Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized businesses in line with our Ease of Doing Business Reforms; and Raising Revenues for Government.

“The draft Finance Bill proposes an increase of the VAT rate from five per cent to 7.5 per cent, as such, the 2020 Appropriation Bill is based on this new VAT rate,” he added.