Taiwo Hassan 
The National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to concentrate on policies that will aid increased local production as well as review its trade/ industrial policy’ and borrow innovatively for Nigeria to grow the economy and bring down rising inflation.
In particular, NACCIMA emphasised that the headline inflation in November 2022 reached a 17-year high at 21.47 per cent, which is 0.38 higher than the preceding month. Similarly, food inflation, at 24.13 per cent in the same month, significantly influenced headline inflation all through 2022. The NACCIMA President, Ide John C. Udeagbala, stated in an interview with New Telegraph that the Russia-Ukraine war, widening disparity in the foreign exchange market coupled with unsustainable debts and financing led to the soaring inflation. He said: “The headline inflation in November 2022 reached a 17-year high at 21.47 per cent, which is 0.38 higher than the preceding month.
“Food inflation, at 24.13 per cent in the same month, has significantly influenced headline inflation all through 2022. “The inflationary pressures were primarily attributable to high energy prices, foreign ex-change scarcity, insecurity, and supply chain disruptions. “With the persisting war in ukraine and high spending by the government on the forthcoming general elections and census, we foresee a further rise in the inflation rate in the short term. “We reiterate our position on the rising inflation that a rate hike will not tame the increasing inflation without complementary targeted financing of critical sectors like agriculture, power, energy, and defence. “The government must invest more in boosting supply and cushioning the cost of production. “Though the planned removal of fuel subsidies may cause inflation to rise in the short term, it remains the best economic decision to reduce our unsustainable debts. “We expect the government to roll out cushioning policies before the possible removal later in the year.”
Although, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), had, on Monday, reported that inflation eased to 21.34 per cent in December 2022 from an all-time high of 21.47 per cent in November, 2022, Udeagbala believes that the Federal Government, especially the incoming administration still has much to do to stabiliz Se the economy. “Inflation has been on the rise and in response, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) four times in 2022. “Rising debt stock has been a major concern for the government and citizens alike. For example, the FG’s revenue increased from N2.57 trillion in 2011 to N4.64 trillion in 2021,” he said.
While speaking on the country’s foreign trade, the renowned industrialist said. the nation’s foreign trade in goods declined quarter-onquarter, qoq, by 9.68 per cent in the third quarter of 2022 to N11.60 trillion from N12.84 trillion in the second quarter of 2022. According to the NBS, the value of exports declined qoq by 19.89 per cent to ₦5.93 trillion in Q3’22 from N7.41 trillion in Q2’22. However, the value of imports increased qoq by 4.22 per cent to N5.66 trillion in Q3’22 from N5.44 trillion in Q2’22. The trade balance stood at a surplus of N269.34 billion in the third quarter of 2022.
He said: “To significantly grow the trade surplus, we need more investment in export infrastructure, enhanced and automated port operations, tackling high production costs, and boosting the supply side of the forex market to improve liquidity and ease access to forex.
“We need to also diversify our exports by boosting our local crude refining capacity, production of petrochemical products, and accelerating reforms in the oil & gas sector to attract more foreign investments in the coming months.” Also, the NACCIMA boss noted that expenditure had risen from N4.30 trillion to N11.08 trillion within the same period while outflow for the half year of 2022 stood at N7.91 trillion. According to him, the country’s deficit has continued to rise with the Federal Government’s expenditure overwhelming yearly inflow. “Also, our debt-to-Gross Domestic Product appears sustainable but our debtto- revenue ratio is not and this is why Nigeria needs to start becoming a producing nation. We need to look at our trade and industrial policy again and again to see how we can grow. “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been giving incentives and there has been moves to reduce import duties but this is not for the fiscal and monetary policy thing, Nigeria needs to compete and by competing, then you have to be a producing country,” he explained.
