Lagos – The Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) said on Thursday that better days were ahead for manufacturers following the new forex guidelines.
Mr Frank Jacobs, President of MAN, said that manufacturers had gone through challenges in accessing forex for raw materials importation but the new guidelines had relaxed the challenges.
“We laud the CBN for this move to make the guidelines for accessing forex more flexible.
“We are hopeful that it would eventually lead to a better understanding between the real sector and the apex bank in relation to importation and forex use.
“For instance, most of the raw materials used by manufacturers are still imported. Even though we have been looking inward but we still need to do more.
“We appeal to the CBN to consider delisting some items from the 41items on the Import Prohibition List, as most of the requirements and proper descriptions of the goods are not well presented in the apex bank’s circular.
“However, we still believe that it is a step in the right direction as it will boost the government’s backward integration policy for sourcing raw materials locally,” Jacobs said.
He said that the flexibility in the guidelines may make foreign exchange more available with considerable market forces (demand and supply).
Mrs Iyabode Lawson, Deputy Vice President, NACCIMA urged the apex bank to consider manufacturers who needed to generally import raw materials and small scale exporters.
Lawson also urged the bank to urgently release bailout funds for small and medium enterprises to enable them produce more and grow the non-oil export sector.
NAN reports that CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, on June 15 released modalities for the long-awaited implementation of the flexible foreign exchange policy.
Emefiele announced the introduction of a two way quote, which means that buyers and sellers would state prices and quantities they are willing to buy and sell.
Emefiele said that the exchange rate would be market determined, adding that the CBN would also participate in the market occasionally.(NAN)