the resolution mid- June 2016, there

 

MTN, whose debt stands at around 57 billion rand ($3.7 billion), has said the CBN’s allegations are without merit and it would hold talks with authorities to defend its position. Moody’s, which already has junk rating on MTN debt at Ba1, said without the refund, demand and the potentia usatimes.cc l tax shortfall MTN would be able to repay approaching debt maturities over the next 12 to 18 months. News of the unexpected tax bill had sent MTN shares tumbling by as much as 7.5 per cent to an almost 10-year low.

This is the second time MTN Nigeria would be running into troubled waters with the Nigerian government since it began operations in Nigeria 17 years ago. In October 2015, the telecoms giant was fined N1.04 trillion by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for failing to disconnect around 5.1 million subscribers from its network for not having been registered as of September 2015, as prescribed by the reg usanews.cc ulatory agency. The total sum was based on a fine of N200,000 for each unregistered subscriber. However, after prolonged negotiation with both the regulatory agency and the Federal Government, the company had the fine reduced to N3 news 30 billion.

With the resolution mid- June 2016, there was an agreement for settlement over a three-year period. As at last February, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed that MTN had paid N110 billion out of the N330 billion, meaning that the company still had N220 billion to pay to the regulator.

Source: NEW TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER