We are looking for naira to buy dollars, say small-scale manufacturers

Despite availability of dollars in the foreign exchange market, small-scale manufacturers say their biggest headache is how to get naira with which to buy dollars.

“The dollar is available. The $20,000 for small and medium enterprises per quarter is available to us but we need naira to buy dollars,” said Segun Kuti-George, chairman, Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Lagos State Chapter.

“Funding is needed now more than ever considering the fluctuations of the naira-dollar exchange rate.   Even at the current exchange rate, our cash-flow has depleted,” Kuti-George said.

He said he was aware that the federal government was putting measures in place to ensure that the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) worked, but wondered when small-scale manufacturers would start applying for loans.

“When will the DBN begin to give loans? When are we going to start applying for loans? Nobody seems to be saying anything. I understand that government has appointed a managing director but nobody is talking,” he stated.

According to him, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) was a working model which the federal government should emulate in trying to fund small businesses.

“The LSETF has brought some relief to us. People have accessed loans of N5 million and below. That is the way to go,” he added.

Similarly, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCICI) said increasing liquidity challenges in the financial system was already hitting many companies hard.

“Some companies are not able to draw from facilities to fund their forex requirements.  This is taking a toll on the business of these companies as some of them cannot provide the cash backing for forex demands.  The liquidity problem is a consequence of the mopping of liquidity in the financial system, the tight monetary policy stance and the increasing crowding-out effect of the private sector by government borrowing in the financial system,” the LCCI said in a statement signed by its director-general Muda Yusuf.

The chamber called for a relaxation of the financial system liquidity to aid business growth in the country.

ODINAKA ANUDU