Manufacturers, SMEs protest 45% bank reserve rule, seek cheaper loans

•Tight lending choking small firms –NASSI
By Merit Ibe, ibe.merit@yahoo.com 
For obvious reasons, manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria have continued to grapple with rising production costs, weak consumer demand and mounting operational pressures with access to affordable credit standing as a major obstacle to survival and expansion.
Commercial lending rates averaging 32.1 per cent for very short-term loans, have plunged businesses into the difficult choice of borrowing at prohibitive costs, scaling down production or postponing investments needed to grow their operations. The cost of financing productive enterprises has become a growing concer...