The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called for targeted fiscal interventions to support manufacturers and farmers, aiming for more inclusive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
LCCI Director General, Dr Chinyere Almona, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, in reaction to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) GDP growth report of 3.46 per cent.
She said that the recent statistics reporting growth in economic activities and the latest 25 basis point hike in interest rates by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank presented a reality.
Almona stressed that beyond statistics, the economy needed to witness a sustained boost in production to support the relevant fundamentals in the economy.
She said that a major concern was the burden of a constrained real economy and a tense business environment that further weakened the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
She said that the banking sector had been unable to fulfill its financial intermediation obligations to the private sector due to inherent economic risks.
According to her, with the high interest rate, an elevated inflation rate, high energy costs, insecurity, and foreign exchange illiquidity for imported raw materials, the operating environment is quite unbearable for businesses.
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