Tinubu requests Senate approval to use profit banks made from selling dollars to fund projects

President Bola Tinubu has sought the Senate’s approval to access the gains banks made from forex trading in the financial year ended 2023 through an amendment of the 2023 Finance Act.

He said he needed the money to finance major projects across major sectors of the economy.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday, read a letter conveying Mr Tinubu’s request for the House to amend the Finance Act and impose a one-time windfall tax on forex gains made by banks.

“Furthermore, the proposed amendments to the Finance Acts 2023 are required to a one-time windfall tax on the foreign exchange gains realised by banks in their 2023 financial statements to fund capital infrastructure development, education, and healthcare as well as welfare initiatives, all which are components of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Mr Tinubu said in the letter read out by Mr Akpabio.

Shortly after assuming office, Mr Tinubu signed the Finance Act Order on July 6, 2023, and it became effective September 1 of the same year.

Mr Tinubu’s decision to unify the nation’s currency on the official and parallel rates gave way to drastic depreciation as the naira began to exchange way more than N1,000 against the dollar.

Checks by Peoples Gazette on Aboki Forex showed that as of Wednesday evening, the naira stood at N1,615 against one dollar.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) disclosed it recorded a whopping N84.2 billion forex gains in 2013 due to the reforms made by Mr Tinubu’s government.