Economy

CBN Forex Exclusion Policy Dangerous to Economy—LCCI

Published

6 years ago

12/08/2019

By Dipo Olowookere

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in order to stimulate economic growth and boost local production in the country, restricted the supply of foreign exchange (forex) to some items that can be easily produced in Nigeria.

This gave rise to the 43 items on the forex restriction list. What this means is that importers of items on the list would not be able to get foreign exchange directly from the windows created by the apex bank to bring the products into the country, but only at the black market.

Recently, the central bank announced the addition of milk to the list and this generated mixed reactions from Nigerians, experts and economists.

Also commenting on the matter was the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which said the forex restriction policy of the CBN was harmful to the nation’s economy.

According to the agency, Nigeria is not ripe for the forex restriction policy on milk importation because it would create a crisis of immense proportions in the dairy industry supply chain and put investments worth billions of dollars at risk.

The LCCI noted further that the policy will do more harm than good, both to investors and the citizens because it would trigger avoidable disruptions and dislocations in the investment environment and further undermine investors’ confidence and create huge supply gaps in the market with severe harmful consequences.

“We currently do not have dairy cows in the country. The dominant milk producing system in Nigeria is the Fulani Nomadic System whose cows have a milk yield of less than two litres a day; whereas, a good dairy cow will produce an average of 28 litres of milk per day over 10 months.

“During peak lactation, a high yielding dairy cow can produce as high as 60 litres of milk per day. The reality is that Nigerian cows have very low yield because of poor genetic composition, poor feeding practices and the laborious nomadic system of breeding. These are fundamental issues that we need to fix before contemplating any form of import restriction.

“These are challenges to be posed to the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources at the federal and state levels as the present administration moves to the next level. These are the agencies of government that have primary responsibilities for such matters. The environment needs to be created for these investments to happen,” the agency said in a statement to react on the matter.

In the statement signed by its Director General, Mr Muda Yusuf, the LCCI warned that the policy could lead to a massive job loss, pointing out that, “There are over one million direct and indirect jobs that will be in jeopardy across the value chains of these industries.”

“These companies engage Nigerians as employees, distributors and retailers as well as thousands of suppliers and service providers who are dependent on these businesses for their livelihood. For a country that is grappling with unemployment crisis, the consequences will be too grave. Therefore, there are profound investments, economic, nutritional and social issues to worry about,” it said.

The agency said additionally, such policy will boost the smuggling economy since there will be an estimated 50 percent short fall in the supply of dairy products to the Nigerian market, with the supply gaps creating scarcity and put the prices of the products beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

It further warned that there would be loss of revenue to the government as smugglers naturally move to fill the supply gaps in the market, adding that there is a major risk of closure/drastic scaling down of operations of existing investments in the dairy industry.

According to the LCCI, there will be a higher risk of malnourishment of citizens especially children and the low-income earners, heightened risk of loss of jobs in the dairy sector, while neighbouring countries will profit from the increased smuggling triggered by the policy, as the Nigeria ports and maritime sector workers loose revenue and jobs to the ports of the neighbouring countries.

In the statement, the LCCI urged the CBN to give enough timeline to diary companies for a sustainable transition from the current state of affairs to the desired level of backward integration in the dairy industry.

“There should be robust incentives to attract investors to the supply chain in the dairy industry in line with the backward integration aspiration.

“The ministries of Agriculture and Water resources should take on the challenge of driving this change process through the creation of incentives for modern animal husbandry facilities and practices.

“There should be generous support from government to facilitate the importation of cattle breed [dairy cows] suitable for milk production, it said.

“On account of the foregoing, we urge the CBN to put on hold its proposal to exclude the dairy industry investors from the foreign exchange market in order to save the economy of the consequential shocks, business disruptions, investment dislocations and job losses,” the LCCI concluded in the statement.

Economy

Nigeria’s Crude Oil Production Drops Slightly to 1.422mb/d in December 2025

Published

10 hours ago

15/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s crude oil production slipped slightly to 1.422 million barrels per day in December 2025 from 1.436 million barrels per day in November, according to data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), quoting primary sources, noted that the oil output was below the 1.5 million barrels per day quota for the nation.

The OPEC data indicate that Nigeria last met its production quota in July 2025, with output remaining below target from August through December.

Quarterly figures reveal a consistent decline across 2025; Q1: 1.468 million barrels per day, Q2: 1.481 million barrels per day, Q3: 1.444 million barrels per day, and 1.42 million barrels per day in Q4.

However, the cartel acknowledged that despite the gradual decrease in oil production, Nigeria’s non-oil sector grew in the second half of last year.

The organisation noted that “Nigeria’s economy showed resilience in 2H25, posting sound growth despite global challenges, as strength in the non-oil economy partly offset slower growth in the oil sector.”

According to the report, cooling inflation, a stronger Naira, lower refined fuel imports, and stronger remittance inflows are improving domestic and external conditions.

“A stronger naira, easing food prices due to the harvest, and a cooling in core inflation also point to gradually fading underlying pressures”, the report noted.

It forecast inflation to decelerate further on the back of past monetary tightening, currency strength, and seasonal harvest effects, though it noted that monetary policy remains restrictive.

“Seasonally adjusted real GDP growth at market prices moderated to stand at 3.9%, y-o-y, in 3Q25, down from 4.2% in 2Q25. Nonetheless, this is still a healthy and robust growth level, supported by strengthening non-oil activity, with growth in that segment rising by 0.3 percentage points to 3.9%, y-o-y. Inflation continued to decelerate in November, with headline CPI falling for an eighth straight month to 14.5%, y-o-y, following 16.1%, y-o-y, in October”.

OPEC, however, stated that while preserving recent disinflation gains is important, the persistently high policy rate – implying real interest rates of around 12% – risks weighing on aggregate demand in the near term.

Economy

NBS Puts Nigeria’s December Inflation Rate at 15.15% After Recalculation

Published

11 hours ago

15/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday revealed that inflation rate for December 2025 stood at 15.15 per cent compared with the 14.45 per cent it put the previous month.

However, it recalculated the November 2025 inflation rate at 17.33 per cent after using a 12-month index reference period where the average consumer price index (CPI) for the 12 months of 2024 is equated to 100. This is a departure from the single-month index reference period, in which December 2024 was set to 100, which would have produced an artificial spike in the December 2025 year-on-year inflation rate.

The NBS had earlier informed stakeholders a few days ago that it was changing its methodology for inflation to reflect the economic reality. This is coming after the organisation changed the base year from 2009 to 2024 earlier in 2025.

In its report released today, the stats agency explained that this process was in line with international best practice as contained in the Consumer Price Index Inter-national Monetary Fund (IMF) Manual, specifically in Section 9.125 and the ECOWAS Harmonised CPI Manual, which address index reference period maximisation, following a rebasing exercise.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in December 2025 was 0.54 per cent, lower than the 1.22 per cent recorded in November 2025.

The NBS also revealed that on a year-on-year basis, the urban inflation rate for last month stood at 14.85 per cent versus 37.29 per cent in December 2024, while on a month-on-month basis, it jumped to 0.99 per cent from 0.95 per cent in the preceding month.

As for the rural inflation rate in December 2025, it stood at 14.56 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 32.47 per cent in December 2024, and on a month-on-month basis, it declined to -0.55 per cent from 1.88 per cent in November 2025.

It was also disclosed that food inflation rate in December 2025 was 10.84 per cent on a year-on-year basis from 39.84 per cent in December 2024, while on a month-on-month basis, it declined to -0.36 per cent from 1.13 per cent in November 2025 (1.13%).

This was attributed to the rate of decrease in the average prices of tomatoes, garri, eggs, potatoes, carrots, millet, vegetables, plantain, beans, wheat grain, grounded pepper, fresh onions and others.

Economy

LIRS Reminds Companies of Annual Tax Returns Filing Deadline

Published

12 hours ago

15/01/2026

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Companies operating in Lagos State have been reminded of their obligations to file their annual tax returns for the 2025 financial year on or before January 31, 2026.

This reminder was given by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) in a statement made available to Business Post on Thursday.

In the notice signed by the chairman of the tax agency, Mr Ayodele Subair, it was stressed that filing the tax returns is an obligation as stipulated in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025.

He explained that employers are required to file detailed returns on emoluments and compensation paid to their employees, as well as payments made to their service providers, vendors and consultants, and to ensure that all applicable taxes due for the year 2025 are fully remitted.

Mr Subair emphasised that filing of annual returns is a mandatory legal obligation, and warned that failure to comply will result in statutory sanctions, including administrative penalties, as prescribed under the new tax law.

According to Section 14 of the NTAA, employers are required to file detailed annual returns of all emoluments paid to employees, including taxes deducted and remitted to relevant tax authorities. Such returns must be filed and submitted not later than January 31 each year.

“Employers must prioritise the timely filing of their annual income tax returns. Compliance should be part of our everyday business practice.

“Early and accurate filing not only ensures adherence to the law as required by the Nigerian Constitution, but also supports effective revenue tracking, which is important to Lagos State’s fiscal planning and sustainability,” he noted.

The LIRS chief disclosed that electronic filing via the organisation’s eTax platform remains the only approved and acceptable mode of filing, as manual submissions have been completely phased out. This measure, he said, is aimed at simplifying and standardising tax administration processes in the state.

Employers are therefore required to submit their annual tax returns exclusively through the LIRS eTax portal: https://etax.lirs.net.

Dr Subair described the channel as secure, user-friendly, accessible 24/7, and designed to provide employers with a convenient and efficient means of fulfilling their tax obligations, advising firms to ensure that the tax identification number (Tax ID) of all employees is correctly captured in their filings, noting that employees without a Tax ID must generate one promptly to avoid disruptions during the filing process.