Prices of soft drinks to increase as FG introduces N10/litre excise duty on carbonated drinks 

The federal government has introduced an excise duty of N10/litre on all non-alcoholic, carbonated and sweetened beverages.

Excise duty is a form of tax imposed on the production, licensing and sale of goods. Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, said this during the public presentation of the 2022 Appropriation Act on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to her, the new policy introduced is in the Finance Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 2021. With the policy, the prices of carbonated drinks may spike across the country.

The minister said the excise duty on soft drinks would discourage excessive consumption of sugar beverages which contributes to diabetes, obesity among others. “There’s now an excise duty of N10/ per litre imposed on all non-alcoholic and sweetened beverages. And this is to discourage excessive consumption of sugar in beverages which contributes to a number of health conditions including diabetes and obesity. But also used to raise excise duties and revenues for health-related and other critical expenditures.

“This is in line also with the 2022 budget priorities,” she said.