Business
VAT Records 1.73 % Increase In Third Quarter- NBS
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said revenue generated from Value Added Tax (VAT), increased by 1.73 per cent in the third quarter of 2017.
The NBS announced the figure in a sectoral distribution of value added tax report for third quarter, 2017 post on the bureau’s website in Abuja.
The bureau further disclosed that the figure increased from N246.30 billion in the second quarter to N250.56 billion in third quarter.
VAT is a tax on the amount by which the value of an article has been increased at each stage of its production or distribution.
It also stated that the figure generated in the quarter was higher than N196.70 billion recorded during the same period in 2016, representing 1.73 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter and 27.39 per cent increase Year-on-Year.
The bureau noted that the manufacturing sector generated the highest amount of VAT with N28.98 billion,closely followed by Professional Services and Oil Producing,N22.73 billion and N12.09 billion, respectively.
It said that the mining sector generated the least with N33.70 million,closely followed by Local Government Councils and Pharmaceutical, Soaps and Toiletries, N193.78 million.
NBS said of the total amounted generated in the quarter, N125.13 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT locally while N72.10 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT for foreign.
It, however, stated that the balance of N53.33 billion was generated as Nigeria Customs Service Import VAT.
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Banking/ Finance
Ripple Survey Reveals Appetite for Digital Assets
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.
