Tag Archives: MANUFACTURERS

Nigerian Manufacturers Demand Review Of Government Polices.

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The President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr Frank Udemba, has expressed concerns about some government policies which he says may hinder the development of the economy.

 

He said this at the Presidential Villa where government officials, manufacturers and members of the private sector met to discuss issues on how best to make the economy work in the interest of ordinary Nigerians.

 

Speaking the mind of most businessmen and women in the hall, Mr Udemba listed the Central Bank’s policy on foreign exchange, lack of access to long term funding, multiple levies by government agencies and lack of infrastructure as some of the areas the federal government needs to revisit in its efforts to get the nation out of economic recession.

 

He, however, commended the government for its giant strides in ensuring adequate security across the country.

 

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, and the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun also provided the perspectives from their ministries, providing explanations on the concerns raised.

 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was also present at the meeting and he explained why the meeting was necessary.

 

He highlighted the need to get the private sector fully involved in the effort to revive Nigeria’s economy as manufacturing remains a major area the country must develop.

 

It was the second time the Vice President would be holding the quarterly business forum.

 

Source: Channels TV

Manufacturers, Nigerian students abroad, others get $867 million Forex – CBN

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The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has given access to about 7,792 requests for foreign exchange valued at over $867 million to manufacturers and other strategic actors in the Nigerian economy, according to a statement.

 

The statement by acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okoroafor, on Thursday in Abuja, stated that the access was in continuation of CBN’s resolve to ease foreign exchange pressure on manufacturers.

 

The access, Mr. Okoroafor noted, was given through inter-bank window to enable manufacturers and strategic actors source for vital raw materials and spare parts for their respective industries.

 

He added that the figure was derived from a summary of the Forex Utilisation for the month of October.

 

The summary indicated that the raw materials sector received the highest allotment, getting access to foreign exchange valued at $355.7 million representing 40.99 per cent of the total value.

 

He noted that “statistics from the CBN in Abuja showed that manufacturing and petroleum industries got access to $91.2 million and $150.8 million respectively.

 

“Companies and other interests in the agriculture sector got access to $13.7 million for the period, while entities in the aviation sector received $10.3 million.”

 

The director stated that finished goods and others got allotments of $43.8 million and $10.7 million respectively.

 

Invisibles, comprising of school fees, students’ upkeep and medicals, among others, received $191.3 million, representing 22.05 per cent of the figure, he stated.

 

Mr. Okoroafor pointed out that the release of the figures underscored the transparency of the apex bank in foreign exchange management.

 

He added that the CBN remained committed to its pledge to ease foreign exchange pressure on manufacturing and agriculture sectors through forward sales under the new flexible foreign exchange regime.

 

He recalled that in September, manufacturing industries in Nigeria were given access to foreign exchange valued at over 660 million dollars in the inter-bank market.

Recession: FG Plans Tax Relief for Manufacturers – Adeosun

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The Federal Government, in a bid to ease the burden of the current economic recession on the manufacturing sector, is planning some form of tax relief for the sector.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, dropped the hint on Wednesday in Abuja while responding to questions from journalists at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting.

She said the tax relief was part of measures by the Federal Government to reduce the negative impact of the foreign exchange crisis on the sector.

Based on the Gross Domestic Product report for the third quarter released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the manufacturing sector’s growth rate was recorded at -2.93 per cent year-on-year.

This is lower by 1.02 percentage points than what was recorded in the second quarter of the year.

The report had blamed the decline in manufacturing activities to the continued drop in the naira to dollar exchange rate, which has made industrial inputs more expensive.

Adeosun said since the sector was one of those badly hit by the economic crisis, the Federal Government would support it with some form of incentives next year.

In addition, she said massive investments in infrastructure would be made to reduce the operating costs of the manufacturing sector.

The minister stated, “It is clear from the figures that the manufacturing sector is the one that is really challenged and the challenge in the sector is clearly that of foreign exchange availability. I think that the sector will benefit from more consistency of the foreign exchange policy.

“On the fiscal side, we are rolling out a number of measures to support the manufacturing sector in terms of tax reliefs and other measures that will allow the balance sheet of the sector to be repaired. They (manufacturers) have taken quite a hit and we will continue to try and support them through it.

“We have a fiscal road map that we will be rolling out and it includes a number of measures around revenue mobilisation, tax reliefs and the fiscal instrument, which will be issued in 2017 to get the economy back to recovery.”

Responding to a question on the position of the Central Bank of Nigeria that the Federal Government should quickly settle its indebtedness to economic agents, the minister said the issue was also affecting the fiscal stimulus objective of the government.

She said with huge debts owed local contractors, money released to the contractors through the banks for projects was not being felt.

Adeosun explained that since the contractors were also indebted to the banks, they were usually denied access to those funds released by the government.

She said while the debts had risen owing to the fact that the government changed its accounting system from cash-based to accrual-based, the ministry would work with the CBN to address the liabilities.

“We are working on a solution with the CBN that will enable us actually reflect these obligations and begin to pay them off because, indeed, they are affecting a number of sectors in the economy and the ability to get the economy growing,” Adeosun stated.

Meanwhile, the Federation Account Allocation Committee distributed a sum of N420bn among the three tiers of government for the month of October.

The minister put the gross revenue received for the month at N238.7bn, adding that this was lower by N41.03bn than the N279.74bn allocated in September.

She attributed the decrease in revenue to challenges in the oil sector caused by the activities of militants in the Niger Delta, as oil production dropped by about 950,000 barrels per day in August.