NAN-HE-16
Forex
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, Oct. 20, 2016 (NAN) Mr Ken Ukuoha, President, National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANT), has cautioned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) against providing special foreign exchange intervention for some selected sectors of the economy.
Ukuoha told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that while he appreciated the fact that the apex bank was committed to revamping the economy, it must act with caution.
He suggested that whatever intervention the CBN decided to give must be based on genuine reason, adding that the current recession had affected every sector of the economy.
According to him, there must be a clearly spelt out criteria for selecting any sector for such intervention which the CBN has not done before announcing the intervention for airlines and those other sectors.
“While I appreciate that sectors are being assisted, I, however, want us to play on the side of caution.
“Caution in the sense that whatever intervention we need at this time of recession should be across board and must not be a selective because there are other sectors that are agile.
“Every sector is suffering and for you to select, you must have a reason for selection, you must have a criteria spelt out for the selection of such sector.
“We have not seen the criteria; we have not seen an analysis that brought out this selection and the rationale for which they were selected,’’ he said.
Ukuoha said that CBN could end up short changing Nigerians by giving special intervention to some selected sectors, adding that intervention should be holistic.
He added that the apex bank did not give reasons for selecting some specific sectors and did not also reach agreement with all stakeholders on the need for such intervention.
According to him, the recession is hitting on every sector across board, if there is any intervention, it must also go that same line.
“So, by the time you begin to select, you may eventually be short changing Nigerians because this is tax payers’ money; the money belongs to the whole Nigerians.
“Therefore, for such intervention to go to a specific sector, there must be reason, there must also be agreement that these sectors really require bail out because it is a kind of bail out.
“We must also know the economic implication in terms of impact on the economy, so that it doesn’t go the same way that 41 items were selected by the CBN and eventually we are now regretting.
“So, this intervention must be evidence-based,’’ he added.
The CBN recently approved Special Secondary Market Intervention Retail Sales for airlines, raw materials and machinery for manufacturing companies and agricultural chemicals.
The apex bank explained that the intervention was a one-off exercise dedicated to the clearance of the backlog of matured Foreign Exchange obligations. (NAN)
OYS/OFN
Edited by Felix Nwadioha