Businesses Seek 50% Cut In Interest Rates – LCCI

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said 54 per cent of business owners in the country want commercial banks to reduce their interest rates by at least 50 per cent.

The LCCI said the business owners demanded this, among other incentives, in order to keep their business afloat in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which had disrupted many businesses and supply chains.

In her quarterly briefing on Tuesday, the President, LCCI, Mrs Toki Mabogunje, said the body was concerned about nipping in the bud the looming economic collapse occasioned by the lockdown over COVID-19 pandemic.

Mabogunje noted that this was the time policymakers and the organised private sector needed to come together to rescue the economy from collapse at this critical time.

She said, “Majority (83 per cent) of business owners plan to cut down salaries, downsize workforce or a combination of both.

“Businesses therefore request adequate stimulus and intervention to preserve investments and save jobs.

“Commercial banks should reduce their interest rates by at least 50 per cent, from whatever they are charging now.

“More than half (54 per cent) of business owners want banks to reduce interest rate and give moratorium on loans; 29 per cent want reduction in tax liabilities, while 17 per cent want waivers on import duties and demurrages.”