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Traders seek talks with FG on interest rates, import policies

By BusinessNews Staff on October 25, 2013

Traders under the auspices of Traders’ Rights Protection Initiatives have said they want a round table talks with the federal government on various issues affecting trading activities in the country especially on high interest rates and import policies.

The group made the demand through its General Secretary, Mr. Anthony Okechukwu who spoke to news men during a business award organised by the association in Lagos.

He said that despite the contributions of the trading community to the nation’s economy, traders have continued to suffer unduly due to high interest rates and unfavourable import policies.

According to him, “Our greatest concern is the issue of borrowing money from the banks by the trading community; the interest rate is too high. At the moment, we are competing with foreigners who are also importing finished goods. The little money we have always disappears whenever we import goods, because of the high interest rates.”

“Also we want government to intervene at the ports and make issues easier for us. The forces there are not working well with the trading community. We are paying through our noses to fund the levies coming from there. When our goods come in, we pay demurrage even when we are not the cause of whatever was the delay. Also, the issue of these bonded warehouses is one of the things that make us to suffer more because with the congestion there, the problem is hectic, we can’t trace our goods on time, we cannot pay on time. Government can come in to help us with policies that will help us to grow,” he said.

He added that traders become debtors because, “When we use the bank’s money with high interest, to incur high cost of bringing in goods alongside several charges in the ports, at the end of the day, we cannot even realise the cost of the goods let alone make profit. These are our problems and we want the government to come in.”

[Vanguard]

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