Charles Nwaoguji
Organised Private Sector (OPS) has called on Federal Government to take steps to mitigate the negative economic impact of COVID 19 by giving loans at zero interest rate to manufacturing sector.
According to the Managing Director/CEO of FAE limited, Princess Layo Okeowo, this gesture will cushion the effects of the lockdown on the economy.
She said manufacturers have taken note that stringent efforts are being made to contain the spread of the deadly virus, in Nigeria and across the world.
She was of the view that government should equally pay attention to the potentially devastating negative economic dimension of the pandemic. She stressed that government should strongly support a stimulus package to support the SMEs in particular who are most hard hit by the economic impact of Covid 19. Among other steps include the following:
Lowering of interest rate, enlisting the banks to be part of the stimulus package through a favourable interest rates, drastic reduction in the cost of governance to make the required savings and more effective and wide spread use of the National Collateral Registry for easier access to finance by the SMEs. “I strongly recommend immediate steps for implementation of these recommendations and inclusion in action to be taken by government. State governments are equally advised to take necessary action at their own end as appropriate and against the backdrop of these recommendation,” she added. To save the economy from collapse, Princess Okeowo said Nigeria need to salvage investments across all levels – micro, small, medium and large enterprises.
“Without investment, we cannot have jobs; aggregate demand would remain weak; government revenue would be in jeopardy as tax revenue plummets; and economic sustainability will be at risk. This underscores the imperative of an urgent rescue package for business to enable investors ride out the storms,” she explained.
Commenting on Nigeria- made- product, the managing director posited that if Nigerian manufacturers were patronized and encouraged, they would do more, expand their production capacity and employ more people.