The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called for acceleration of implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), an instrument which will ensure effective aggregate control of government cash balances.
This has the capacity to save the economy from unbearable burden of debt obligation, according to the chamber.
In a communiqué signed by Muda Yusuf, director-general, LCCI, the chamber expressed concerns over fiscal operations of the federal government, with regard to remittance of revenues to federation account, loss of revenue to crude oil theft, poor tracking of government funds owing to multiplicity of bank accounts, as well as the increasing burden of servicing domestic debt.
‘’There is therefore need for urgent reforms to ensure proper tracking of government revenue and lodgements of government funds in the banks to reduce revenue leakages,’’ the communiqué released on Monday said.
‘’There is also need to ensure proper alignment between expenditure and revenues in order to minimise domestic debt accumulation with its attendant heavy burden of debt servicing,’’ it further said.
LCCI expressed concern over persistent challenges in the trade facilitation processes at the nation’s ports and its implications on the Nigerian economy, adding that importers were often compelled to pay huge demurrage charges for delays which were not of their own making.
The chamber further expressed worry over the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), insisting that the trend was negatively impacting on investment in the oil and gas sector, with huge adverse implications for the economy.
‘’The oil and gas sector has one of the greatest potentials for the attraction of foreign direct investment. But the continued policy uncertainty has resulted in stagnation of investment in the sector,’’ read the communiqué.
The delay in the passage of the 2014 budget has adverse consequences, it is capable of bringing about economic uncertainties and infrastructure delay, said the chamber.
By: ODINAKA ANUDU
