Exporters seek sustenance of EEG to mitigate impact of COVID-19

Exporters have asked the Federal Government to sustain the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) introduced in 2017 to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the sector.

According to a statement by the Executive Secretary of the Organised Private Sector Exporters Association (OPEXA), Mr Jayeola Olarewaju, the intervention is in line with the complaints of fellow exporters and it is crucial for the government to sincerely implement extant policies and make good commitments.

He stated: “Indeed, let me clarify that we are not asking for anything new or unreasonable. In fact, our wish list is straightforward. This means the issuance of the outstanding promissory notes approved since December 2018, disbursement of export credit certificates for approved budget till 2020 and provision of adequate budget and finally, half-yearly meetings of the Inter-ministerial committee on EEG to assess impact.”

On the type of stimulus that will spur the non-oil sector, Olarewaju stated that it had become imperative for the government to intervene and save the economy from total collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Noting that governments globally have come up with relief packages to support lives and livelihoods, the exporter drew FG’s attention to China, a country where its trade ministry increased the export tax rebate on 1500 products in March and reduced the processing time of disbursement of a rebate from 10 days to one week to ease the working capital funding.

He noted that these types of fiscal and other measures made China the number one exporting country globally.

Olarewaju said although the current administration had stepped up the diversification of the country’s economy, there was a growing need for prioritisation of agriculture and manufacturing sectors in order to boost their contributions to the GDP.