The Moment (London)
28 November 2011
LAGOS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has rated the performance of the nation’s economy in the third quarter of 2011 low.
LCCI’s president, Femi Deru, who spoke to stakeholders at the chamber’s quarterly media briefing in Lagos, said the chamber was concerned about the increasing cost of operations arising largely from high costs of energy and transportation.
‘The chamber believes that the economy is yet to benefit from the government’s transformation agenda in the area of energy, foreign exchange market, inflation and Gross Domestic Growth (GDP),’ Deru said.
He said the problem of poor power supply did not improve in the quarter, as noted by endusers were concerned.
‘Most enterprises still rely on diesel and petro to power their businesses. The cost of this is increasingly becoming unbearable,’ the industrialist said.
He also lamented that the challenge of access to credit and high cost of funds was more severe for small and medium enterprises in the period.
The financial expert said lending rate in the quarter was still generally above 20 per cent, while the entire funds in the financial system were still predominantly short term.
Worried by the economic constraints, Deru urged government to ensure that the structure of 2012 budget reflected national priorities for economic development.
AllAfrica – All the Time