The Chief Executive Officer, Adedipe and Associates, Mr Biodun Adedipe, has called for the privatisation of the Nigerian Commodities Exchange (NCX) to complement the success recorded in agriculture.
Adedipe who made the call at the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) Economic Review for 2020 and 2021 Outlook in a Webinar said the privatisation would as well boost the manufacturing sector.
He said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is also expected to provide funds to strengthen other commodities exchanges to serve as platforms where commodities of various types would be traded.
Speaking further, he said “Private sector is in a better position to manage exchanges. The NCX has been having a number of challenges since it was set up. It has been inactive due to funding and infrastructure issues.
“If we privatize these exchanges, it will complement what is happening in the agricultural sector and link to manufacturing. If we achieve this and make them move as other international exchanges, we will see great things happening in Nigeria,” he said.
Also Speakng, a professor at the Finance and Capital Market Department of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Uche Uwaleke expressed the need for federal government to finance its N5.2 trillion budget deficit through privatisation of moribund assets and securitisation through conversion to marketable instruments.
He said government recent plan to increase Value Added Tax (VAT), reduction of waivers, and other measures were not sufficient to generate the amount of revenue needed to fund the yearly deficit in Nigeria.
