Cash Scarcity Weakens Commercial Activities In Taraba

Marketers in Jalingo, Wukari, Mutum-Biu and Zing, the commercial hubs of Taraba State are in disarray following the scarcity of cash in the hands of buyers.

Commercial activities in the state have been twisted in the last one week especially between sellers and buyers of farm products including yams, rice, beans, maize, melons and cassava.

Visits by LEADERSHIP Weekend to some of the markets revealed that there have been slow commercial activities due to the facts that buyers who travelled from far east and far north to buy the farm produces could not access cash in the banks to make purchases.

A visit to Wukari Yam market, one of the major yam markets in the north eastern part of Nigeria, revealed that only 14 loads of trucks were able to convey the products out of the market as against 28 to 30 every week.

Also, a visit to Jalingo Main Market shows slow activities of commercial activities where sellers complained of not having patronage for over a week.

A yam store owner in Wukari, Mr Wunuken Atsen told our correspondent that he sold only 2,700 tubbers of Yams since last week as against 10,000 in the previous week.

Similarly, a major marketer of yams, Mr Ndubuisi Okoye told our correspondent that he travelled from the eastern part of the country only to arrive Wukari on Thursday to discover that there is serious cash scarcity which hindered him from making a reasonable purchase.

“Nigerian security did not guarantee people to travel with cash. We only come to the market, make cash withdrawals and buy goods. I came with only N2.5 million; the money got finished and the banks here are telling us that they can’t dispense more than 100,000; we are truly challenged,” Okoye stated.

Some of the petty traders in Zing, Jalingo, Mutum-Biu and Wukari markets said they have been having difficulties selling their products since many buyers prefer to buy through internet banking which they are not used to.

“Many people come asking me of POS. Some insisted to make transfers which we are not used to here. We are selling petty things; we can’t be going around with POS. Even transfer, sometimes they will make it and it will take time to credit our accounts while the customer is kept waiting.

“If you ask him or her to wait till your account is credited, he will be upset. If you decide to give him what he claimed he has paid for, sometimes you will not be credited for the whole day. We are experiencing low patronage as a result of cash scarcity,” a petty trader at Jalingo Main Market, Mrs Juliana Abuchi, stated.

LEADERSHIP Weekend’s visit to commercial banks in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, showed that the banks have limited cash withdrawal to N5,000 per day.