To reduce the pressure of foreign exchange (FX) and other economic challenges associated with it, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency, to ramp up the production of crude oil to, at least, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’ the 1.8 million barrel per day quota.

The employers’ body also urged government to pursue and eliminate crude oil theft, resume domestic refining to save forex for other productive uses and be fiscally disciplined in terms of dollar dealings.

NECA Director-General, Adewale -Smatt Oyerinde, in a statement, yesterday, lamented that the persistent wrong channeling and mismanagement of forex on organised businesses had become agonising.

He said business working capital, production, capacity utilisation, investment and sales among others, have contracted significantly, while firms are being forced to downsize.

According to him, the grey trajectory portends tragedy for the economy, if not quickly addressed.

Consequently, he said a more stringent action that would significantly reduce the influence of economic saboteurs in the forex value chain must be implemented.

“We believe that if the parallel market is not legal, then it is illegal and should be treated as such. We believe that as long as the “black market” with the institutionalised name, “parallel market” persists, unruly banks in the country will continue to round-trip, notwithstanding the implication on the economy,” he said.

Noting that the unification of exchange rate policy was supposed to bring into convergence the exchange rates, he said that at the beginning of implementation, the policy appeared to have gained traction, but has now progressively become undesirable.

While the official exchange rate stood at about N781.64/$1, the parallel market around N900/$1 as noted by the CBN, the differential, he said, showed a premium of about 21 per cent.