The national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has charged the federal government not to increase Value Added Tax (VAT) for now.

Speaking at a colloquium held in commemoration of his 67th birthday in Abuja on Thursday, Tinubu said such action will reduce the purchasing power of the people and can further slowdown the economy.

He said, “Consumer spending is dipping and this is the place I will stop and appeal to Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president and his team to put a huge question mark on any increase on VAT, please.

“If we reduce the purchasing power of the people, we can further slowdown the economy.” Daily Trust reports.

The Federal Government had hinted an imminent increase in VAT when the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, and the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler engaged with the Senate Committee on Finance on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

Fowler told the committee of an imminent increase of VAT from the current five percent to about 6.75 percent and 7.25 percent.

He said this is to meet up with the agency’s revenue target of N8trillion for 2019.