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The Center for Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged the Federal Government to emulate the recent Executive Order that eliminates import duties, Value Added Tax (VAT), and excise duties on pharmaceutical raw materials for agriculture, energy, and other sectors.
This was conveyed by the Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, in his statement, Sunday.
He said the move would help address supply-side challenges in the economy, particularly inflationary pressures caused by supply constraints.
The statement read: “CPPE commends the recent Executive Order which removed import duties, VAT, Customs Duty on pharmaceutical raw materials, intermediate products, medical diagnostic equipment and machines.
“These fiscal policy measures will increase domestic production of pharmaceutical products, reduce medical costs, increase access to health services and have a positive impact on people’s welfare. This will also revitalize the pharmaceutical industry and create more jobs.
“Fiscal policy measures have a much better prospect of addressing the supply-side challenges in the economy, if well targeted. Increasing output is critical to correcting current inflationary pressures, which are largely driven by the supply-side challenges in the economy. Fiscal policy measures are a powerful tool to achieve this goal.
“We recommend that these fiscal policy measures be replicated to increase production in other real sector segments.
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“We need similar executive orders for agriculture, agrochemicals and agriculture-related industries to curb surging food inflation; we need similar interventions in the energy sector, to improve energy security and incentivize private investment in the sector.
“Similar support is needed for the iron and steel sector to help the construction industry and reduce construction costs for housing and infrastructure.
“We also need fiscal policy protection to support domestic investment in oil refineries to save foreign exchange, create jobs and deepen backward integration.
“There is a wave of economic nationalism globally and we must respond by strengthening domestic production capabilities in all sectors. Fiscal policy measures have proven to have more impact on real sector performance than monetary policy.
“The real sector of the economy deserves to be protected and effectively incentivized to increase production and ensure sustainable investment in the sector. The Nigerian economy cannot afford to submit to a complete trade liberalization regime given the challenges faced by domestic producers.
“We need to stem the tide of deindustrialization of the Nigerian economy, the exit of foreign direct investors, and the increasing death toll of domestic industries. We believe that increasing fiscal policy interventions will facilitate the realization of this goal. But we must be prepared to trade off some revenues in the short term.
“The economy will be better in the medium to long term, taking into account growth in domestic production, reduced dependence on imports, increasing prospects for disinflation, increased job creation, and better economic resilience.”
By: Babajide Okeowo
CPPE Post Demands Extension of Executive Orders in Agriculture, Energy, and More First appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Top News from Ripples Nigeria.
