Be cautious in formulating economic policies, MAN tells Buhari

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.”