An Economist, Mr Rasheed Yusuf, has urged government to encourage more private investors into farming and the use of improved seedlings to boost food production and curb inflation.
Yusuf, who is the Chief Executive Officer, Trust Yield Securities, Lagos, said this in an interview in Lagos on Monday.
He noted that more government support for the private sector would improve food output as well as curb inflation and seasonal shortages.
Yusuf said that the country’s inflation, which reduced to 11.08 per cent in July from 11.22 per cent in June, would have been drastically reduced should the government encouraged private investors into farming.
Yusuf said government’s aid for agriculture should focus more on specialized fertilizers and protective chemicals.
“On a wider scale, the use of improved seedlings should be a common practice to make the country a food hub in the future,” he said.
According to him, CBN’s directive to commercial banks to maintain a minimum Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) of 60 per cent would boost the real sector.
Yusuf said the implementation, which would begin in the fourth quarter, would lead to a tremendous economic growth, if properly implemented.
“The policy will enable more investors to access funds at a lower rate to boost businesses,” he said.
He also urged the apex bank to include more items on the 43 already banned items to access foreign exchange.
“The banning of more items from accessing foreign exchange will enable our people to see the essence of backward integration in almost all commodities because our people have the capacity to produce majority of them.
“This is because it is economically unwise for us to expend the nation’s hard currency for items that the nation’s people and entrepreneurs can produce,” he said.
