Nigeria will benefit from increased fx earnings — ISCAN

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ISCAN) has said that there was a need for Nigeria to increase its foreign exchange earnings.

The President of the Institute, Mr Taiwo Owokalade,made this known  during a media briefing in Lagos.

He said that the country had foreign challenges because it was largely dependent on oil revenue.

He added that the country would earn increased foreign exchange inflow from Dangote Refinery when it commenced operations fully.

He said, “The aspect that gives us 80 per cent to 90 percent of our revenue is the petroleum industry.

“That is why we are praying now that with Dangote Refinery coming on board, that will also help us to generate foreign exchange from other sources instead of through the government regulated NNPC.”

According to him, Nigeria’s economy was already diversified but the bulk of its forex was still earned from the oil sector.

While stressing the need to ensure increased revenue generation in the country, he observed that the amount of allocation being shared among the three tiers of government was going down.

If the downward trend continued, he said, several state governments waiting for the Federal Government to fund their activities would be challenged.

He said, “Nobody needs to tell you that the ability to pay the salaries of civil servants in the states is already being threatened.

“Nobody will tell you that the ability to meet the day-to-day needs of the local governments at the grassroots is already being threatened.”

The CBN, he said, reduced its forex intervention to segments of the economy because it no longer had the capacity to sustain it.

“The economy cannot support the naira as we speak to stabilize the naira,” he said.

Despite the rise in crude oil price, he said, Nigeria was yet to benefit because of the massive theft going on in the sector.

He also observed that the country was producing below its capacity, which was making it

“Even when we produce, we don’t refine,” he said.

He said the institute had continued to propagate the need to ensure good corporate governance.