Cash Withdrawal Policy To Drag More Nigerians Into Poverty – NLC

Workers under the organised labour have condemned the current policy on cash withdrawal limit and charged the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) against implementation of policy that will stress the already harsh economy.

The Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) noted that, as most rural dwellers and informal economy operators rely only on POS for daily business transactions based on their starvation of formal banking services,hence, the imposition of cash withdrawal limits by the CBN means that these businesses would suffer from cash starvation shock and most would not likely survive it. The implication is that many more Nigerians would be thrown under the poverty bus, it said.

NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, while making the call in Abuja, stated that, the call for the review is becoming imperative as stakeholders were not consulted prior to the public announcement of this policy.

“We believe that this policy is largely knee-jerk in nature and should be immediately reviewed or completely withdrawn. The truth is that this policy poses an abiding threat to the livelihood of millions of Nigerians and their families,” he pointed out.

Although, the apex bank has since increased maximum withdrawal limit to N500,000 per week for individuals, Wabba said: “the fiscal policy which on paper appears to target the rich especially unscrupulous ones who manipulate the system to launder money has now become a case of trying to kill a fly with a machine gun.”

Wabba explained that, “the truth is that Nigerians particularly rural dwellers are the ones feeling the full punch of this policy. The reasons are not far-fetched. First, the Nigerian economy is largely informal and substantially rural as a far greater majority of our people live in rural locations. The impact of this policy can be easily felt in rural markets where agricultural commodities, livestock, and farm produce are traded.”

With estimated 18 million POS machines now in the system, being operated by informal economy workers, he said: “there is no gainsaying the fact that this policy by the CBN will put majority of them out of business and rob their families their daily subsistence. With the galloping rate of multidimensional poverty in Nigeria especially rural poverty, the impact of this policy for millions of Nigerians is really scary!”