NAN-HE-14-
Economy
Abuja, Feb. 14, 2017 (NAN) The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ltd (ACCIL), has advised the Federal Government to inject massive funds into critical sectors of the economy to stimulate growth and reverse the current recession.
The ACCIL President, Mr Tony Ejinkonye, made this remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ejinkonye stressed the need for government to devise the means of spending heavily on capital projects in order to save the economy from total collapse.
He said the injection of funds into relevant sectors of the economy would trickle down to Nigerians involved in small businesses and make more money available for them.
On the Federal Government’s plan to float a Eurobond market, Ejinkonye said that the move would help government to plug the deficit in the budget.
According to him, the floating of the Eurobond will augur well for the economy, if the proceeds of the bond will be used for relevant capital projects in the country.
He said that sourcing for finance through Eurobond was cheaper than obtaining a foreign currency bank loan for capital projects execution.
“Although, the economy is experiencing a serious challenge, the Federal Government has outlined plans to curb the recession and put the country on the path of sustainable growth.
“This will be achieved through the medium term plan that is expected to drive Nigeria to a minimum Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 7 per cent within three years.
“We can only pray that the plan is properly implemented,’’ Ejinkonye said.
On the zero per cent import duty on power equipment, he said the decision would encourage investors to further invest in the power sector, especially in the renewable energy production.
He said the zero import duty decision was timely, given the level of infrastructure deficit in the power sector, noting that electricity had been responsible for the poor industrialisation in Nigeria over the years.
According to him, any incentive to harness the potential of the power sub- sector is a welcome development. (NAN)
KC/OIF/YEMI
(Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo/Yemi Idris-Aduloju