New Telegraph

LCCI, MAN lament poor access to CBN’s intervention funds

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has disclosed that feedbacks from its members and the wider business community indicate that access to Central Banks of Nigeria (CBN)’s intervention funds to the real sector is not encouraging amid commercial banks’ penchant for not releasing the loans.

 

President of LCCI, Toki Mabogunje, in an interview with New Telegraph in Lagos, said that the numerous CBN intervention programmes, including the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund; the N300 billion Real Sector Support Facility and the N1.1 trillion COVID-19 stimulus meant for the business community were not being released adequately due to stringent conditions by commercil banks.

 

According to her, the perilous situation is creating anxiety in form of uncertainty in the real sector of the economy.

 

Mabogunje solicited CBN’s intervention in the matter by undertaking a review of its strategies and eliminate the bottlenecks associated with access to intervention funds in the country to boost manufac  turing’s contribution to the economy.

 

On access to intervention funding, she said: “The LCCI commends the sustained intervention of CBN in the real sector through its numerous intervention programmes, including the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund; the N300 billion Real Sector Support Facility and the N1.1 trillion COVID-19 stimulus

 

“However, feedback from our members and the wider business community showed that access to intervention funds is not encouraging. “We urge CBN to undertake a review of its strategies and eliminate the bottlenecks associated with access to intervention funds.”

 

Speaking in a similar vein, the Director-General of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir,  explained that poor implementation was hindering the attainment of the primary objectives of the various intervention windows that were meant to stimulate growth in the economy amid COVID-19 as manufacturers hardly access the funds.

 

Ajayi-Kadir said MAN emphasised that as the umbrella organisation of manufacturers in the country, it was seeking CBN’s consideration to be part of the monitoring process.

 

He stressed that MAN observed through feedbacks from members and interaction with CBN on several occasions that these facilities and funds had not been adequately accessible to manufacturers due mainly to the prevarication of the participating financial institutions, which includes commercial banks and development banks that manage the stimulus package on behalf of CBN and government

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