CASH CRUNCH: Nigerians Faces Another Long Queue In The Banks.
By Olusegun HOSEA,
4th December,2023.
Nigeria has battled a cash crunch since October 2022, when the CBN gave a February 2023 deadline to change old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira bills for newly redesigned ones.5 Apr 2023.
In line with this , Nigerians are currently facing yet another long queue in banks in a bit to get cash or do some transactions to their friends, relatives, business partners and other important transaction that is dear to them.
A visit to the Banks today by Exponent Magazine News correspondence at Alagbaka, Akure where most of the commercial Banks are domicile , it was discovered that customers were seeing on a long queue inside the bank premises as most Banks ATM are not dispensing cash for their customers.
In another, development, a source within the bank who pleaded for anonymity said the bank could only give ten thousand (10000) naira to their customers on counter particularly in the First Bank plc but their ATM was not dispensing cash . A customer could only do transfer to any bank of their choice.
Similarly, situation occured in UBA Bank . In case of this bank, it was gathered from a reliable source that the Bank ATM could only dispense forty thousand (40000) but on counter, customers could only get ten thousand naira. While Zenith Bank on its own was given out twenty thousand naira on the counter but their ATM was not dispensing as at the time of filling this report because the customers are not at ATM stand as the place was empty as the time of filling this report.
When asked if there was going to be another economic cashless experience, it was said that the instructions given to them by their various management was to be given those amounts stated above while those customers that intended to withdraw large some could only made transfer to whoever they want to send money to.
As Christmas is drawing nearer , most people are now eager to get some cash for themselves inorder to meet up with the Yuletide expenses by rushing to their banks to get some cash but it was unfortunate that they could only withdrew little amounts from the bank as the whole economy now with the look of things is tailoring towards cashless economy .
Meanwhile, most customers that spoke with us are lamenting about the shortage of the money and the daily limit restrictions. They also complaints about the lack of the ATM of most of the Banks from dispensing cash rather than transfer as what most of them need now was cash not transfer. Some even said if they have cask up to fifty thousand naira they would prefer keeping them at home to depositing then in the Bank.
Similarly, it was also gathered that salary earners could only withdraw ten thousand or twenty thousand naira from their money because of this current situation whenever their salary is being paid, depending on the type of Bank individual is using. But they could only do transfer.
