The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately release the blueprint of his economic policy and constitute an economic team that will facilitate a new policy direction.
The chamber also said it was not comfortable with the present approach of the Federal Government to economic issues, which has continued to diminish investors’ confidence.
LCCI stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting in Lagos on Wednesday.
According the communiqué issued at the end of a meeting, presided over by its president, Mr. Remi Aluko, there was no clarity yet in the policy direction of the government in relations to the economy, which it described as a major factor in investors’ confidence.
“The uncertainty that began in January this year seems to have lingered. Council urged the Buhari administration to make a clear pronouncement with respect to its fiscal policy, foreign exchange policy, tax policy, subsidy policy, trade policy, reform of oil and gas sector (upstream and downstream), the power sector, the 2015 budget, the auto policy, sectoral policies, etc. All these are necessary for investors to have a clear insight into the policy direction of the government and take strategic investment decisions,” it stated.
On the continued fall of the value of the naira, the LCCI acknowledged the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to protect the foreign reserves and stabilise the exchange rate, but disagreed with the bank’s strategies.
It said: “The current model of foreign exchange management by the CBN has profound negative consequences for investors’ confidence and the stability of the foreign exchange market.
“Council, therefore, calls for a more strategic framework for the management of the foreign exchange market. Council urged the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to quickly set up an economic team that will interface with the CBN, the organised private sector and the key economic ministries to come up with a sustainable model for the management of the foreign exchange market.”
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