The Federal Government has been advised to urgently address the lingering foreign exchange scarcity problem in the country to forestall massive job losses.
While a long-term plan of developing alternative forex sources is required, a short to medium-term plan targeted at tackling the existing dollar shortage is inevitable.
The immediate past Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Ife, Rt. Rev. Oluranti Odubogun, stated this at a news conference on the state of the nation in Lagos.
He said, “If the Federal Government does not map out economic strategies to forestall further scarcity of forex, there is a grave danger of increase in unemployment as organisations will begin to lay off workers.”
He urged the government to provide forex on the basis of needs that are genuine and imperative for incremental value to the economy.
Odubogun, a former business administrator, advised that the government could tap into the forex it generates from other sources.
“There are other sources through which foreign exchange is earned. If they are properly managed and harnessed, they could more than mitigate against the drop in direct oil sales,” he said.
He backing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy banning importers of some 41 items from accessing forex from the official window.
Odubogun concluded that until government creates a conducive business environment that encouraged local production and exportation, forex would continue to be scarce .
