The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has stressed the need for the federal government to move beyond statistics, and concentrate efforts on boosting production to really support the relevant fundamentals in the economy.
The Chamber gave this advice, on Wednesday, while reacting to the latest NBS Report on the nation’s unemployment figure and others.
According to the report, Nigeria’s unemployment rate declined to 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, representing a decrease from the 5.3 per cent recorded in Q1 2024, thereby reflecting a gradual recovery from the 5.0 per cent in Q3 2023.
But LCCI, in a statement issued by its Director General, Dr Chinyere Almona, stressed the need to move beyond those statistics, insisting the economy needed sustained boost in production.
It argued that the GDP growth recorded, in the period under review, was induced by activities in the services sector, especially banking and ICT, which grew by 5.19%, and contributed 53.58% to the nation’s GDP.
LCCI expressed concerns over a real constrained economy and tense business environment, during the period, which further weakened the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
The group, therefore, called for targeted fiscal interventions to support manufacturers and farmers, to enable them to effectively contribute their quota to the nation’s GDP.
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It argued that the banking sector has not been able to fulfill its financial intermediation obligations to the private sector due to inherent economic risks, adding that the very high interest rate, an elevated inflation rate, high energy costs, insecurity, and forex illiquidity for imported raw materials, have combined to make the operating environment unbearable for businesses.
“In our quest to achieve inclusive growth that creates jobs, we need to sustain targeted interventions like import waivers, tax exemptions, and efforts toward achieving zero fuel importation.
“We have consistently advocated and still wish to urge the government to consider a fixed import duty exchange rate to allow for better business planning by importers. Every effort is required to resolve all uncertainties and controversies in the oil and gas sector to improve oil production levels.
“Without an increase in economy-wide production, our fundamentals may remain weak, irrespective of the dimensions of our economic indicators,” it stated.
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