Dr Wale Adegbite, former Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ogun Chapter, has said the decrease in forex rates has disastrous impacts on manufacturers.The former MAN Chairman said that most manufacturers imported raw materials and booked these imports when the forex rate was about N475 to a dollar.
Adegbite said that now the manufacturers paid about N750 to a dollar for Letter of Credit obligations, adding that sourcing at the import and export market was also still not very liquid.
Adegbite appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide more foreign exchange for manufacturers to improve productivity.
Adegbite made the appeal while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in Ota, Ogun.
“The apex bank needs to put more liquidity into the import and export market so that maturing Letters of Credit can be paid for as soon as requests are made,” he said.
He noted that the provision of more forex for manufacturers would help to make export and import of raw materials easy, thus boosting, reducing costs and producing at the optimal level.
Adegbite added that the development would improve productivity and profit margins for manufacturers.
