Organized Private Sector of Nigeria,says businesses in the country still have low access to Federal Government’s intervention funds,which was instituted to stimulate and revamp the economy through structured refinancing and loans.
The Organized Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) comprises Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI) and Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME).
The group advised the Central Bank of Nigeria to review its strategies and reduce the bureaucratic bottleneck currently associated with accessing the funds in order to allow genuine Nigerian Businesses have access to the intervention Schemes.
At a press conference in Lagos,the group said that the imperative for transparency in the disbursement of the Funds cannot be over-emphasized.
Applauding the various Intervention programmes of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the group advised the apex bank should complement its efforts by synergizing its policies alongside the fiscal authorities in bringing the needed growth and development into the economy.
“The Organized Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) is willing and ready to partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that credible and genuine businesses actually benefit from the Fund. This will further facilitate regular impact assessment of the Fund,” it added
The group further tasked the Central Bank of Nigeria to consolidate the unification of the exchange rates in order to tackle the challenges facing the manufacturing and other real sector of the economy.
It also advised the apex bank to shun the practice of multiple currency practices, which it claimed have not demonstrated the true reflection of the Naira in the market.
The group posited that in order to activate local production in the economy and improve the growth of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the level above the population growth rate, right pricing and availability of Foreign exchange to the productive sector of the economy among other factors, would be required to ensure speedy growth and development of the economy.
It said:”We believe that CBN action in defending the Naira has a limit; therefore, we advocate for a more deliberate measure and drive in increasing local production for export potential. Despite the fact that we have huge export potentials, our import items are still dominated by products that should have been produced in the country to reduce the country’s demands for foreign exchange . A deliberate structural policy towards this should be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders in the value chain, so as to reduce the consistent depletion of the foreign reserves and rising trade deficits.
“It is high time the economy moved beyond focusing on development of primary sectors like agriculture and mining sectors; there is the need to be more deliberate in creating high skill and technology intensive opportunities in the manufacturing and services sectors. In the manufacturing sector, for instance, producing for exports even for intermediate goods should be considered critical, particularly as we gear up for the effective participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
” Moreover, in addition to increasing labour participation across sectors, improving labour and other factor productivity growth is a major enabler to achieving structural change.
