Amidst the new naira notes scarcity in Nigeria, have you had reasons to think twice before you make a cash request from a Point Of Sale (POS) operator?
We know you may have lost some money to your desire to have cash to make little payments like bus fare, buying ugwu (vegetable) and a few petty things in the market.
Everyday, people who need cash daily have had to lose some reasonable amount of money to POS operators. They now take unimaginable amounts as charges from people who are at their mercy.
At the Automated teller machines (ATM) centers, the machines have become decoration accessories and everyone is running to the POS guy by the roadside.
As you await the day the new naira notes will become available to everyone, if it will every be, there is a further crunch that could happen except you take action.
No New Naira Notes
This whole palaver started after Central Bank of Nigeria extended the end date of the use of the old Naira notes.
Banks are expected to have the new naira notes in their machines, but that is not happening months after the notes were released for circulation on November 26, 2022.
Now, the rate of getting the naira, whether new naira or old ones from a POS operator would see you part with ₦4000, for ₦10,000.
Unfortunately, this cost is digging holes in the pockets of salary earners. They need to go to the office daily.
But the POS operators are likely going to peg your withdrawal limit, should the situation continue.
Have you read these articles?
- New Naira: How Cashless Policy Reduced Kidnapping, Banditry – Emefiele
- Cash Swap Programme: CBN Vows To Sanction Erring Agents
Could this mean it is better to buy dollars in Nigeria than go for Naira and lose 15% to 25% of your hard earned money?
In the past couple of days, POS operators raised the cost of getting naira from them.
They claim they also pay handsomely to obtain the notes.
It may not be in their best interest to transact business with the commodity at a giveaway rate.
We Pay To Get Naira
A POS operator popularly known as UNCLE, around the Ajao Estate axis of Lagos, in a chat with iBrandTV’s correspondent, says they buy naira notes.
Explaining further, he said: “I paid ₦15,000 extra to get a ₦100,000.
“The queues at the ATM’s are not reducing and my customers are calling me that they need cash to carry out their daily activities. I had to pay.
“Over every ₦20,000, I charge ₦4000, for ₦10,000 I charge ₦2000, but we have had to decide not to do transaction above ₦10,000.
“We are doing this so that other people too can get small cash, instead of giving everything to one person who wants the new notes in lump sum”.
A resident of Lagos State said he was charged ₦500 to withdraw ₦2000.
“It has been a crazy experience thus far. You work for money and pay to get the cash again.”
Tight Fiscal Policy
The CBN’s cashless policy is a good one but is fraught with many challenges. This is due to the short time allocated to it for switchover.
Economists have described it as a tight fiscal policy that could have more negative effects than positive.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, had told Nigerians, while appearing before the fact-finding ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives, that the apex bank would still receive the old notes after the deadline.
But nothing has been said about where the new notes are and whether Nigerians will ever get to have it in available measure before the elections.
WATCH: CBN GOVERNOR, GODWIN EMEFIELE, SAYS NAIRA CRUNCH IS CRUSHING KIDNAPPING