Manufacturers
on Thursday outlined how to ensure sustainable economic development of the
country.
The
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be
cautious in formulating policies that would have grave implications on for economy.
The
association said it had been collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria to
determine items that should be excluded from forex allocation based on
availability of local capacity or alternatives.
MAN
said such collaboration would reveal the actual items that should be excluded
from the market.
In
a document obtained on Thursday by our correspondent from the MAN President,
Mr. Frank Jacobs, the association asked the Federal Government to sustain the
policies, especially, at a time investors might have invested on the domestic
production of such items.
MAN
asked the government to introduce Import Adjustment Tax of 20 per cent on
imported Finished Pharmaceutical Products with HS Code 3003 and 3004 because
Nigerian manufacturers had the capacity to produce them.
Jacobs
said, “The import prohibition list prescribed in the CET should be retained
because there is available local capacity in Nigeria.
“There
is need for the government to create an exchange rate window that is less
volatile than the current inter-bank from which manufacturers can source for
forex until the economy is diversified to a level where it can provide the
needed industrial raw-materials.
“The
government should fast-track the establishment of its Development Bank of Nigeria
which was inaugurated earlier and the bank should give priority to the needs of
the manufacturing sector.
“The
CBN 220bn Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund and the N300bn
Real Sector Support Facility are welcome developments, but CBN should make the
funds easily accessible to manufacturers by simplifying the current application
procedures.
“The
government should also encourage the CBN to speed up the establishment of the
Movable Asset Collateral Registry to enable SMEs access credit from
conventional banks as well as from the various support funds provided by CBN.
“The
issue of disputed estimated bills by the electricity distribution companies
which is now a subject of litigation by MAN should be quickly resolved by the
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission as this is negatively impacting on
the economy. There is need also for the distribution companies to improve on
the current metering coverage.”
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