‘FG should encourage export, attract forex to reflate economy’

The immediate past Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Muda Yusuf has called on ther authorities to create an enabling environment that will encourage export business and attract foreign exchange (forex).

Speaking at the monthly forum of the Finance Correspondents Association (FICAN) on Thursday, Yusuf stated that foreign exchange earning is all about creating the environment for more inflows to come in the form of diaspora remittances,foreign direct investment inflows, foreign portfolio investment, export proceeds among others.

Yusuf said the economy has the capacity to attract a lot of foreign exchange because of its size, stressing that there are potentials and opportunities that are still hidden.

Speaking on the theme: “post COVID-19 economy in H1:2021 and outlook for financial services sector, the former DG observed that exporters are passing through a lot of difficulties, adding that the way to attract foreign exchange is to export but “if you go to the ports and see what exporters are going through, you feel sorry for them and the Nigerian economy in general.

He also said that the policy of exchanging export proceeds at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) rate is not fair to the exporters because of the gap between the official and unofficial exchange rate windows.

This he revealed, is one of the reasons why some of the exporters hide their export proceeds.