The Federal Government has disclosed that Nigeria annually spends $9.6 billion (equivalent of N1.5 trillion) on the importation of cars and spare parts.
Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga said this on Wednesday while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
According to him, every year, the country spends over $3 billion on the importation of new cars, $3.2bn on used cars and another $3.4bn on auto spare parts.
The Federal Government has disclosed that Nigeria annually spends $9.6 billion (equivalent of N1.5 trillion) on the importation of cars and spare parts.
Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga said this on Wednesday while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
According to him, every year, the country spends over $3 billion on the importation of new cars, $3.2bn on used cars and another $3.4bn on auto spare parts.
"Today, we spend more than $3 billion every year importing new cars, we also spend another $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion importing used cars and spare parts respectively", he said.
Aganga lamented that with every importation, Nigeria was creating new jobs in other nations, saying "that is not the best way to go as a country".
He said under the new national automotive policy on car importation, the import duty for local manufacturers remained 35 percent as against the speculated 70 percent.
The minister noted that this was aimed at enabling local manufacturers to meet the country's need for car production.
Aganga explained that , notwithstanding the cost of importation, the government decided not to ban the importation of used vehicles in the interest of Nigerians.
"In every country where you've auto policy, used cars are banned. Even when there was a meeting of the auto manufacturers last week, they pushed for banning of used cars. But this government, bearing in mind the socio-political environment we operate today, decides not to ban used cars. Nigeria will be the first country, out of all the countries that have implemented auto programme, that has refused to ban used cars at the time of implementation because of the interest of the Nigerian people", he said.
He said the new automotive policy should not lead to an increase in vehicles' prices, adding that the government would continue to monitor prices every week.
According to him, if the government does not implement this policy, the pressure on the economy will be unbearable "because we rely heavily on the importation of cars and this is not what we want to use our foreign exchange for".
The minister, who noted that the government had urged local manufacturers to prioritise the assembly of affordable cars, said it was also working with financial institutions to have car purchase scheme in the country to allow Nigerians to borrow money to buy cars at very reduced interest rates.
"We're looking at very low interests. We're at the advanced stage of negotiating that. We're doing that because we understand the issues with Nigerian public and we want to make sure this policy doesn't put unnecessary strain on Nigerians. Consumers are very important to us. It's not just the investors, the money makers; but the consumers. We must regularly be in touch with them and make sure that we address their interests", he said.
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