High interest rate’ll kill Nigerian economy — ACF

The pan-Northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, says the high interest rate under the current regime will kill the Nigerian economy if nothing is done to arrest the situation.

The National Chairman of the ACF, Audu Ogbeh, expressed concerns over the high interest rate, just as he congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his presentation of the 2022 budget estimates.

This was contained in a statement signed by Ogbeh, a former minister of agriculture and released by the National Publicity Secretary of the Forum, Emmanuel Yawe, in Kaduna on Saturday.

According to him, for the past three decades, the country has witnessed the most outrageous interest rate that any developing country can endure.

This, Ogbeh said, was worrisome and cautioned that unless and until something pragmatic is done, the Nigerian economy won’t experience real growth.

The ACF chairman said, “I congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari for his presentation of the budget estimates of the 2022 fiscal year. The Forum appreciates the desire and commitment of his administration to take steps to expand and concretize the infrastructure base without which economic growth will be a mirage.

“We also want to commend government on the new onslaught on bandits and criminals nationwide. We are however worried that that no mention was made of the problem of interest rate was made.

“For nearly three decades, we have endured the most outrageous interest rates that any developing country can endure. How can we continue to pay lip service to the vital issue of the growth of SME’s Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, the prosperity of the younger generation if we make it impossible for them to access credit?

“We appreciate the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, but we regret to say those efforts will not solve the problem when Commercial Banks are still charging 27-30%. What kind of business will anybody do with such interest rates?

“We wish to caution that unless and until we hurriedly establish a mechanism to deal with the current national tragedy where our children have resolved that the fastest way to their personal economic recovery is kidnapping, we think that the Nigerian economy cannot experience real growth if access to reasonable credit remains forever blocked,” Ogbeh said.

(The PUNCH)

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