Commenting on the recent move by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ban the supply of forex to Bureaux de Change (BDCs), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that the availability of forex would increase manufacturing in the country.
MAN, through its President, Mansur Ahmed, while speaking at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association’s Kwara and Kogi states’ chapters, said that it “fully” supported the CBN’s decision to end the supply of forex to BDCs.
Ahmed said that more forex supply to manufacturers would boost the manufacturing sector, boosting job creation, and higher production capacity.
He said, “In the last few months, there have been efforts by the Central Bank to control the flow of foreign exchange for us to get more Forex in the manufacturing sector.
“The decision by the CBN to withdraw supply of foreign exchange from the Bureaux De Change is one that the manufacturing sector is fully in support of.
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“Foreign exchange is not a commodity that should be taken to the market and traded. Its availability is intended to allow those that are producing goods and services to bring in the necessary materials and equipment required in order to produce those goods and services at affordable prices.
“In this regard, I affirm the support of the MAN for this policy as well as other polices in the infrastructure sector executed by the FG. The art of getting foreign exchange in the market, to me does not make sense.
“And yet we know that this process has indeed made a huge sum of forex into the BDCs. We do not see how that will help the economy.
“Certainly, if the foreign exchange is made available to our manufacturing companies, more young people will be employed and the companies will operate at higher capacity and more industries will be created while a lot of the raw materials needed will be readily available.
“So if you have to sell Forex to traders in the market as if it is a commodity, you are denying the manufacturing sector these vital resources. The law of Forex as it was being done is not sustainable.”
