Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria (MAN) President, Dr. Franks Udemba Jacobs has
praised the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on “Foreign
Exchange Sales to End Users”, which authorises dealers to dedicate at
least 60 per cent of their foreign exchange purchases to manufacturers,
saying it will afford his colleagues the opportunity to determine the
exchange rate of the naira to arrest its drift.
He spoke to The Nation in his office in Ikeja while reviewing the state of the economy and the adverse effect of some policies on the real sector.
He regretted that the policy reduced the contributions of the manufacturing sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
On how the continuous slide of the naira could be arrested, he said
manufacturers could stem the tide. He promised to advise his colleagues
not to bid too high for dollars as the new policy has given them a
strategic role to determine the value of the naira if managed properly.
He said MAN has a duty to do this because if the fall of the naira
was not arrested, importers of machinery and raw materials would be
forced to close shop.
While praising the new policy, Udemba said this was the first time
the government was responding to the challenges of the sector, stressing
that this was the only way comatose industries could be revived.
Questioning the impropriety of the exclusion of 41 items from forex
market, which he claimed harmed the sector, he said it has destabilised
the real sector and caused the folding of over 56 firms.
The MAN boss said essential raw materials, which were not available
locally, be removed from the list, noting that some products listed as
finished products by CBN were actually raw materials for some firms.
He made a case for the 96 finished products, which he claimed,
indigeneous manufacturers can produce to be included in the list of
items not valid for forex to protect the local businesses and retain
employment.
Udemba asked that manufacturers with confirmed letters of Credit
issued before the release of the circular on July 25, last year be given
priority in forex allocation at the confirmed rate.
MAN is canvassing the need for the government to conclude the review
of the Export Expansion Grant (EPG) to enable exporters of manufactured
products to earn foreign exchange that will mitigate forex scarcity.
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