Home GLOBAL NEWS Declare emergency on forex, Sapele chamber of Commerce urges Buhari

Declare emergency on forex, Sapele chamber of Commerce urges Buhari

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Sapele Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, SACCIMA, Sapele, Delta State, has advised the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on foreign exchange (forex) by putting to stop the financing imports of all non-government or essential commodities or settlements of important bills and BTA’s, as it was in the mid-80s when forex was allocated for essential imports only.

The President of the chamber, Prince David Iweta, said in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, should stop the allocation forex for importation of petroleum products. He added that there are lots of refined petroleum products all over the world seeking market. Hence,dollars should be sourced by offshore loans to import their products and make use of the naira in refinaning and sponsoring exports of commodities, which our banks do not have capacity to finance at the moment.
This will ensure the stability of petroleum products and gradually force down the price of the products. It will bring about massive job creation in the rural areas in the extractive industry. This will make the focus of the banks to be redirected from the usual imports of petroleum related products to non-oil export by stimulating non-oil export and revive export of commodities such as cocoa, rubber, timber, palm produce, cashew nuts, fish, animals, and several solid minerals and give birth to Export Boom in 2016.
Iweta comended the decision of the apex bank to repatriate all export proceeds back to the country within a maximum of 180 days from export but disagreed with the decision which says that exporters must sell the proceeds at official exchange rate.
The decision of forcing exporters to sell the proceeds at official exchange rate is one singular reason that the naira is exchanging at N280 to $1 as at today. This action and decision of CBN of not allowing non-oil exporters to use their earned forex 10 per cent to settle their own import bills or sell to the highest bidder of such privately earned proceeds at this critical period of acute shortage of foreign exchange which has negatively affected exports of Nigerian commodities.
He also stated that the action as retrogressive, provocative, discouraging and destructive to businesses of export as it is does not support export growth just the way it does not make economic sense when our foreign reserve position can only support three to four months imports.
Iweta added that the management of the CBN should as a matter of urgency terminate its policy of selling forex at official rate and allow exporters of non-oil exporters to repatriate their exports proceeds to their domiciliary accounts in Nigerian banks.

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