By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has demanded that the duties collected by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) be charged in Naira rather than in foreign currency.
This call was made by NACCIMA President, Mr Dele Oye, in his response to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive on the use of foreign currency collateral for Naira loans.
On Monday, the apex bank directed that it would no longer permit using Dollars and other foreign equivalents as collateral for Naira loans.
In response to the move, NACCIMA said, “We still appeal and insist that all bonafide government transactions must be in the sovereign currency of Nigeria.
“The Nigeria 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.”
Mr Oye said the association is still unclear about the fiscal policy objectives of the recent directives by the CBN, noting that while the monetary policy directives have resulted in calming the markets, the activities continue to be guided without a complementary fiscal policy direction.
Mr 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.”
The NACCIMA leader said the association was determined to draw attention to the issues bordering on lack of policy direction for several reasons.
He also expressed regret that the recent 600 basis points hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) would dampen investments in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
