The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that the possibility of President Bola Tinubu’s administration achieving it’s economic plan is meagre due to Nigeria’s estimated N77 trillion debt burden.
The association urged Tinubu to cut down the cost of governance to enable his government achieve its set economic target.
MAN lamented that its sector has been at the receiving end of Nigeria’s debt crisis which has seen the nation’s debt profile rise by 410 percent over in the last 8 years.
Truth Live News gathered that according to MAN CEOs’ Confidence Index (MCtCI) first quarter 2023 (Q1’23) report obtained by Vanguard, “The domino effects of escalating public debt on the manufacturing sector are endless.
“To start with, rising domestic debt is highly crowding out private investment in the manufacturing sector by reducing credit availability and forcing hike in lending rates.
“External debts are mostly serviced in foreign currencies, hence high demand for foreign currencies further depreciates the naira and makes importation of non-locally produced critical inputs highly expensive for manufacturers.
“Moreover, higher debt servicing is consuming greater volume of forex and worsening the forex scarcity that has plagued the manufacturing sector for many years. Higher debt repayment requires increased revenue.
“The Nigerian government has continued to breed a harsh business environment by its indiscriminate imposition of high and multiple taxes on manufacturers all in a bid to generate revenue.
“Huge public debt led to low foreign investment and foreign capital inflow which worsen the forex scarcity that has remained a bone in the throat of manufactures.”
Furthermore, association clarified that, “contrary to the popular parlance in the government quarters that Nigeria has revenue problem, the country’s debt crisis is not a result of inadequate revenue and it is anti-growth to view manufacturing taxes as the last resort for curbing the debt problem.
“The manufacturing sector which has always been at the receiving end has not felt any significant impact of the debt finance on the numerous challenges that have bedeviled its performance in many years. Infrastructure decadence, forex scarcity, credit crunch and naira depreciation have become bones in the throats of MAN members despite the humongous increase of over 410% in the country’s debt profile in the last eight years.
“Amidst multiple taxes, Nigeria’s real problem is not revenue generation or collection but the siphonage of collected revenue so that they do not reflect in the records.”
MAN noted a debt worth of N77 trillion is an enormous burden to inherit and will most likely limit the achievements of the new administration”.
While proferring possible solution to the menace, MAN recommended implementation of the following, among others: “Increase the revenue base by widening the tax net through an enhanced data capture of business operators in the informal sector.
“Strictly implement the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“Further identify and amend the loopholes in the tax laws in order to reduce the leakage of tax revenues.
“Promote fiscal discipline by reducing the cost of governance and strictly complying with section 41 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and section 38 (sub-section 2) of the CBN Act.”