As the festive season draws nearer, Nigerians are yet again faced with naira scarcity as individuals find it difficult to easily access cash. The development is coming despite the assurance of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on the availability of the currency notes. Like the cash crunch of December last year and the first quarter of 2023 due to the implementation of the failed Naira redesign policy, the resurgence of the naira scarcity has begun to bite hard on Nigerians. As of Monday, Automated Teller Machines of Deposit Money Banks in many parts of the country are either not dispensing cash or are witnessing long queues.
It was gathered that DMBs had pegged maximum withdrawal limits from N20,000 to N50,000. Transaction fees through Point-of-Sale operators, PoS, have also doubled due to the Naira scarcity.
PoS charges increased by 100 percent as it moved to N200 per N5,000 in the nation’s capital; the same situation is reported nationwide. However, the country’s apex bank blamed the Naira scarcity on panic withdrawals of large volumes of cash from various CBN branches by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
Although, CBN insisted that there is no scarcity of cash, noting that the economy has an adequate supply of the currency. But the reality on the ground contradicts CBN’s point of view regarding the scarcity of Naira. According to data from CBN in June, currency in circulation climbed to N2.60 trillion from N982 billion in March 2023.
The President of the Central Bank Customers’ Association of Nigeria, Dr Uju Ogunbunka stated that the CBN’s explanation for Naira scarcity is meaningless. According to him, there is a real naira scarcity in the country.“There is a real scarcity of cash; when I went round recently, the Naira scarcity was real.
“I don’t think CBN needs the advice to make banknotes available; it is their mandate. They should be telling Nigerians why they are incapable or deliberately shortchanging Nigerians.“The justification from CBN on the reason for currency scarcity doesn’t hold water and is meaningless. What I think they should do is print more currency for Nigerians to transact their businesses.“The excuses we get from CBN are untenable at this period because they have all the machinery to address the issue. “If the CBN is unable to address the issue, it means they are facing a challenge”, he said.
More so, the secretary-elect of the Mobile Money and Agent banking industry in Nigeria, Elegede Segun, said PoS operators were worst hit by the naira scarcity. He confirmed that PoS vendors have hiked their charges so as not to run at a loss.
“It has been difficult; our members have resorted to local arrangements to get cash.“Due to the scarcity, our members have increased their fees. It is a demand-and-supply situation. Most banks have a limit on cash withdrawals on ATMs and over-the-counter. The maximum withdrawal has been pegged at N50,000, which cannot serve one customer’s demand.
“As it is, banks are not giving out enough cash to customers.“People are seeking self-help amid the scarcity. They now prefer to hold their cash than to deposit it at the bank because they are not sure of withdrawing the funds”, he stated.
Recall that from December 2022 to February 2023, the Naira redesign policy by the CBN resulted in a cash crunch until the Supreme Court extended the deadline to 31st December 2023, and later vacated the extension deadline following a request by the federal government.
