The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has advised the Federal Government (FG) to address the root causes of inflation.
The ACCI president, Al-Mujtaba Abubakar via a statement on Thursday expressed concern that, despite government efforts, the country’s inflation rate was rising.
He warned that high inflation would reduce Nigerians’ purchasing power, making basic necessities unaffordable for the common man.
BizWatch Nigeria reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 21.91 percent in February, up from 21.82 percent the previous month.
“While we appreciate the efforts of the administration to tame the increasing inflation rate, we note that the situation is far from improving,” Abubakar said.
“This has complicated the business climate and deepened challenges facing small scale businesses.
“The increase can be attributed mainly to the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country, where many resolve to buy at black market rate.”
Abubakar urged FG to improve the country’s business climate. He also said that a litre of petrol costs between ₦400 and ₦700 depending on location.
“This occurrence tends to have a negative effect on businesses as fuel and diesel are the major source of energy for running businesses,” he said.
“This invariably leads to the spike in the cost of production coupled with logistic issues that has been compounded by insecurity.
“The government should implement business-friendly policies unlike the cash swap policy that negatively affected businesses, especially the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).”
ACCI’s President also requested that the government expedite the rehabilitation of the country’s refineries and grant them to private entities.
“The executive and legislative arm of government should speed up the passage of the bill to unbundle the transmission aspect of electricity in Nigeria to serve Nigerians efficiently,” he added.
“Again, tax harmonisation will improve the ease of doing business, make the market competitive and reduce business mortality.
“Government should begin to make use of satellites for surveillance by equipping the space agency to improve in addition to the equipping and retooling of our armed security force.”
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