The South-South Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday rejected the call for the further devaluation of the naira by the European Union.

Fillippo Amato, Head of Trade and Economic Section of the EU had suggested that Nigeria should further devalue the naira to get out of recession.

But President of the Chamber and Chairman, National Economic Recovery Committee, David Iweta in a statement said the devaluation of the naira would be a “suicide mission”.

He said, “I, Prince David Iweta, the President, South-South Chamber of Commerce, say in strong terms that further devaluation of the naira without a vibrant export base is a call for suicide mission for our nation’s economy.

“Only recently the Central Bank of Nigeria, devalued the naira from N197.00 to about N320.00 for imports that are eligible into Nigeria, while about 41 items are barred from enjoying such devalued rates.

“Essential commodities like petroleum products cannot even access forex at the rate of N320.00 to the U.S dollars due to the floating rate of the naira between N450.00 to N500.00 to the U.S dollars.

“This has resulted to hyper-inflation and the forex is not available. The reason, amongst others, that was canvassed for the devaluation which is investors’ confidence is unachievable.”