Acess to forex, a cause for concern – NACCIMA
By Charles Okonji
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has cried out that acess to forex is a major challenge facing its members at the moment.
The NACCIMA National President, Ide Jhon Udeagbala who started this recently during the Association’s 3rd quarter council meeting in Akure, noted that some members who accessed CBN interventions to fund to import machinery and equipment are faced with a major challenge of repayment
According to Udeagbala, “Some of our members who have accessed CBN interventions to fund importaion of machinery and equipment are faced with a major challenge of repayment, as there was no window of provision to cover the foreign exchange component for such interventions, as the commercial banks who bid fortnightly for FX are only allocated small percentages of the bidding amount.
“I urge the CBN to provide a special window for foreign exchange when providing these loan interventions for Nigerian businesses. There are some of NACCIMA members who conducted feasibility analysis and applied for CBN loan interventions to enable them import machinery to boost production when the exchange rate was at N370 to $1.
“However, from the time the loans are approved up to the time these machines are fabricated, the exchange rate has shot up by almost 40 percent thereby increasing the eventual cost of these machines, making it almost impossible for businesses to pay back these loans due to the loss incurred due to the change in exchange rate.”
He noted that the PIB which was signed into law by President Buhari deserves attention, saying that the arrangements for implementation have been put in place.
He said,” Our focus should be how the Private Sector can become the key players in the Upstream, Midstream and Downstream of the Oil and Gas Sector.”
Also of importance is the judgment on the FIRS on Practice Direction. It deserves attention by us.
Comenting on suspension of Foreign Exchange (ForEx) issuance to BDCs, the NACCIMA President noted that the outcome of the CBN’s action to suspend the issuance of forex to BDCs will depend on the efficiency of its alternative, stressing that the use of Commercial Banks to carry out forex sales to the general public could not yield expected result as the demand for ForEx outweighs the supply.
He said, “The issues of inaccessibility and high rates will remain. This is largely because our economy remains import dependent for raw materials and intermediate goods on which our production activities rely on. The government needs to do more to promote and encourage exports from Nigeria such that more forex is earned into the country.
