October 01, (THEWILL) – The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has described the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withdraw foreign exchange from Bureaux De Change (BDCs) in the country as a welcome development.
While noting that the apex bank’s policy would bring a temporary hike in the exchange rate, MAN insisted that the Nigerian economy would be better for it in the long run.
MAN president, Mansur Ahmed, made the position of the association known on Thursday in Ilorin, during an annual general meeting of the Kwara and Kogi state branch of the association.
Ahmed said: “In the last few months, there have been efforts by the Central Bank to control the flow of foreign exchange for us to get more forex in the manufacturing sector.
“The decision by the CBN to withdraw supply of foreign exchange from the Bureaux De Change is one that the manufacturing sector is fully in support of.
“Foreign exchange is not a commodity that should be taken to the market and traded. Its availability is intended to allow those that are producing goods and services to bring in the necessary materials and equipment required in order to produce those goods and services at affordable prices.
“Clearly, that action of the CBN on foreign exchange is most welcome even if it is belated. In this regard, I affirm the support of the MAN for this policy as well as others polices in the infrastructure sector executed by the Federal Government.
“So the art of getting foreign exchange in the market, to me it does not make sense. And yet we know that this process has indeed made huge sum of forex into the BDCs. We do not see how that will help the economy.
“Certainly, if the foreign exchange is made available to our manufacturing companies, more young people will be employed and the companies will operate at higher capacity and more industries will be created while lot of the raw materials needed will be readily available.”
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