As economic hiccups continue to reduce purchasing power, and consumptions across all sectors of the economy, disposable income has shrunk with panic withdrawals from currency traders.
The charges imposed by money deposit banks and Point of Sales (PoS) on Nigerians who make use of their services for cash withdrawals is cutting into their purchasing power while putting more households in precarious conditions and biting harships.
Currently, PoS operators charge their customers an average of N2,000 on every N10,000 withdrawal. Similarly, most money deposit banks have programmed their ATMs to dispense only N1,000 and N2,000 per withdrawal to non-customers to charge N35 per on every withdrawal.
Against the backdrop of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) monetary policy of redesigning N1000, N500 and N200 notes to control excessive cash in the economy, consumers across the country are currently experiencing untold hardship as a result of the apex bank’s inability to inject the amount of new notes commensurate with the old notes, which has almost been completely withdrawn from the economy.
In addition, the unavailability of fuel in rural and urban areas has plunged an average consumer in double jeopardy.
The ongoing crisis has, in no small measure, affected person-to-person, person-to-business and business-to-business transactions across Nigeria.
On a visit to Oke-Arin, a popular grocery market on Lagos Island, LEADERSHIP learnt that the market, which used to be bustling with wholesalers, retailers and consumers, has become a ghost of its old self.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP, a wholesaler, Mrs. Funmi Isijola who deals in wines and spirits, said it has been so difficult to even sell 10 cartons of wine in a day due to scarcity of cash and challenges they encountered while using online banking.
“The scarcity of cash is a big challenge for us traders. I normally sell almost hundreds of cartons of wine daily, but since this change of currency started, it has been difficult to make sales. We are just managing; I have not sold up to five packs as I am speaking with you right now.
that the government finds a solution to this policy before it gets out of hand,” she said.
Another trader, who sells beverages at the same market, stated that, sales have dropped drastically as people now prepare to buy essentials rather than what they can do away with.
“I still believe that my coming to market today will not be in vain because as it stands, I haven’t been able to make any sales since I opened the shop. Today, being Thursday, we don’t open until 10am, coupled with the low scarcity of cash and even fuel is really contributing to low sales,” she said.
Corroborating the Oke-Arin scenario, a market survey carried out at Ikorodu Market, saw traders lamenting on low sales. A visit to a butcher’s shop simply known as Mr. Akeem, also confirmed low sales.
“You can imagine that we that are selling meat are complaining about lack of sales. What should other people say? We the sellers don’t even have enough cash to buy cows from the abattoirs. Another problem we are having is the challenges of transferring money online. We have encountered so many failed transactions which has resulted in us not collecting transfers from our customers and even buying,” he lamented.
In the same development, a pharmacist also noted that sales dropped for some days because people don’t have enough cash to buy medication.
On a visit to Ogba Park in Ikeja Local Government, Lagos, Olabisi, a commuter, explained her ordeal in trying to get cash to move around. She narrated how she almost got stranded at the bus park because she didn’t have cash to pay for a bus fair.
“I don’t understand where we are going in this country; I could not pay for my transformation fair yesterday because I ran out of cash. I decided to use the ATM but it wasn’t dispensing, I went to a POS vendor who wanted to charge me N300 on N1,000. I was at the bus stop for a very long time before I saw someone who paid for my fair,” she said.
A few commercial bus drivers, who also shared their encounters, said some passengers now offer to make bank transfers when they board the bus, which sometimes end in bitter disagreements.
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