The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has announced that the recent increase in excise duty for beverage and tobacco goods in the country will push businesses to scale down operations, which will ultimately result in factory closures, job losses, a decline in exports among others.

Francis Meshioye who is the President of MAN made this known on Tuesday during a press conference held in Lagos to raise objections on the recently published 2023 Fiscal Policy Measures.

Pointing out that the excise duty hike is a flagrant reneging of a promise made to the association by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning on March 23, 2023, he said the exponential increase in excise duty in the 2023 Fiscal Policy Measures came as a shock to the industry and was, in effect, ‘an increase on an increase’, since there was already an approved increase in place for 2023.