Business
Recession: Expert Urges FG To Review Tax Laws
An expert in
Accounting, Mrs Morenike Babington-Ashaye, has urged the Federal Government to urgently review the country’s tax laws, as a measure to overcome the current economic recession.
Babington-Ashaye, who is the Chief Executive Officer, Acer Accounting Services, made this call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Monday.
She observed that some of the country’s tax laws had already become obsolete and were no longer in consonance with the current economic realities.
The accountant, who said that improved revenue generation was key to overcoming recession, urged the government to come up with sound fiscal policies that could turn around the country’s fortunes.
“It is disappointing that sometimes, we have to wait till the last moment before considering taking certain important economic steps, such as the review of tax laws.
“Taxation is a living subject. It is something that the government has to review every year in line with the prevailing economic situation.
“We are in a recession now and I think the effects of the problem and the pains the people are talking about would have been minimal if we had made our tax laws more responsive.
“The point is that we do not just come up with the yearly budgets; we must debate our tax policies and adjust them to ensure effective implementation.
“That way, any economic shock would have been planned for, and the kind of dire economic situation we are now in can also be mitigated,” she said.
The expert therefore, urged the government to review the tax laws to take the country out of the present economic doldrums.
Babington-Ashaye also suggested wider consultations between critical stakeholders and government authorities on the way forward for the economy.
She also urged government to ensure the effective utilisation of tax resources in order to give value to the masses in form of development projects.
Babington-Ashaye expressed optimism that the country’s economy would be strong once again, if the county could increase local capacities and reduce importation.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
