BEVERLY HILLS, AUGUST 26, (THEWILL) – The Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria, MAN, has called for a downward review of the nation’s benchmark interest rate to five per cent, from the current Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, of 14 per cent if the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is serious about diversifying the economy.
The President of the association, Dr. Frank Jacobs, made this demand on Thursday at the 33rd Annual General Meeting of Oyo/Osun/Ondo/Ekiti State Branch of MAN, which was held at Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
“We are not happy about the current MPR. If truly we want to industrialise this country, interest rate must be in the neighbourhood of five per cent. It is the only way we can diversify the economy,” he said.
Jacobs enjoined the Federal Government to review items considered not valid for foreign exchange allocation and remove them because they are not locally available, adding that the manufacturing sector deserved special attention.
He advised the government against going ahead with the proposed increase of Value Added Tax, VAT, at present because the country is going through economic recession, noting that “this is the time to give incentives to the people to produce. If there are a lot of taxes, they would not be able to produce and create employment.”
In a lecture entitled: “Fiscal Policy Thrust for Inclusive Growth in Nigeria’s Manufacturing Sector,” delivered at the event by the founder/Chief Executive Officer, International Centre for Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development, ICLED, Prof. (Mrs.) Olajumoke Familoni-Adeosun, the government was urged to set aside some plots of land as industrial parks.
While pointing out that the building of infrastructure, conduct of value-adding research and partnership are vital for industrial development, she said: “Money must circulate to the local and indigenous contractors. This is the time to borrow as much as possible. The local manufacturers must not suffer.”
Familoni-Adeosun described manufacturing as a labour-intensive sector that absorbs a lot of human capital, decrying low patronage of locally manufactured items in the country as many people have preference for imported goods.
She however warned manufacturers against compromising the quality of goods, saying: “Don’t reduce in the quality of your products. You can cut in other areas that will not directly affect the consumers but not the quality. We need to do ours while government is doing its bit. Abide by the rules.”
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