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MAN seeks introduction of single-digit interest rate on agricultural loans

By on June 5, 2013

The President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Bashir Borodo, has advocated for the introduction of a single-digit interest rate on agricultural loans to enhance growth in the sector.

Borodo made the suggestion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.

He said that the measure would stimulate investment and encourage development of agricultural enterprises, adding that high interest rate was militating against effective agricultural financing in the country.

He said: “The greatest problem with agricultural financing is the interest rate. Interest is generally about 20 per cent and 25 per cent.

“With the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the interest rate is now about 12 per cent.

“It is good to review it further down to a single digit for sustainable development.”

Borodo urged the Jigawa State Government to develop a blueprint that would enable it transform the agriculture sector.

He said: “I also suggested that there must be a new blueprint for agricultural development in Jigawa, because agriculture is the only asset, the best asset for the state and there must be a new platform for it.

“The old model may not deliver what we want quickly. We will encourage the indigenes to do it, but if they could not, whoever can do it should come in because what we want is for value addition for this things to go all over, but you don’t insist that it has to be the indigenes because the world is becoming a very global village.”

Also speaking in a separate interview with NAN, Abimbola Junaid, a Nigerian in diaspora, called for attitudinal change on the part of the people to patronise local products so as to facilitate sustainable economic development in the country.

Junaid, a UK-based woman activist, also urged government at all levels to adopt practical measures to check capital flight and encourage investment.

“We need effective publicity to correct the wrong impression about the security situation in the country,” she said.