Forex: Importers surrender consignments at ports

Shippers are deserting their transfers at ports the nation over, after debasement of the Naira that has made it unrewarding for them to clear their merchandise. Revealing this to Vanguard in Lagos, Vice President of Association of Nigeria Tire Marketers, ANTM, Okechukwu Eze-Ifeoma, said the arrangement had prompted the surrender of a huge number of dollars worth of imported merchandise at the ports.

Eze-Ifeoma clarified that the downgrading of the naira, which saw it move from about N200 in December to practically N400 at the
time they returned from Christmas festivity, brought about a colossal misfortune to shippers. He said: "From December till date, more than 80 percent of merchants have not imported any merchandise as a result of the Foreign Exchange, FOREX, issue.

The merchandise you see turning out are the ones pending. "You can envision some individuals imported in light of N200 before going for Christmas and when they returned, what they heard is that dollar is currently amongst N350 and N380. Some cleared out their compartments at the ports and fled.

"What government should do in four years time, they are doing in their first year in office. To begin with, let us have power; we can scarcely rest at present. "We purchase individuals searching internally, assembling processing plants and taking part in agribusiness. However, the reality of the situation is that there is no base."

Source: Vanguard