The Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has called for duties collected by the Nigeria Customs Service to be levied in Naira instead of foreign currency.
NACCIMA President, Dele Oye, emphasized this stance in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive allowing foreign currency collateral for Naira loans.
He said, “We continue to urge and maintain that all legitimate government transactions should be conducted in Nigeria’s sovereign currency.”
“The Nigerian Customs Service must collect the national currency of Nigeria. NCS must stop collecting duties using the United States Dollar rate. The uncertainty has been devastating for many manufacturers and businesses.
“We respectfully urge the esteemed office of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Coordination to expedite the release of the Presidential committee report.”
He highlighted that while the monetary policy measures have helped stabilize the markets, there is still a lack of accompanying fiscal policy guidance.
Oye added, “In our 28th March 2024 letter with ref No NCC/NP/ 22/23/1267 to the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, we drew the attention of the Hon Minister to the vacuum created by the anticipated report of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax reform which is yet to be presented to the organised private sector in April 2024 (the 4th month of the year).
“As explained, most business and investment decisions are anchored upon fiscal and monetary policy expectations. For this reason, we strongly reaffirm and advocate for the timely release of the 2024 Fiscal Policy.
“We decline to respond or be distracted by piecemeal bulletins or press releases on monetary policy when we don’t have regulatory authority guidance on the critical ingredients like inflation rate target, government debt policy, currency printing (quantitative easing) target or interest rate policy.”
NACCIMA further emphasized its commitment to highlighting concerns regarding the absence of clear policy direction for various reasons.
Additionally, the association lamented that the recent increase in the Monetary Policy Rate would negatively impact investments in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
