The federal government on Thursday apologized to Nigerians over the current cash crunch nationwide, adding that the scarcity will ease in the coming year.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this disclosure in a statement during a media briefing in Abuja.
According to Idris, the current scarcity of the naira notes is not deliberate. He added that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is doing everything possible to address the situation.
He emphasized that there will be more cash in circulation in the new year.
The minister said:
- “About naira scarcity, our government is aware that there is this cry by Nigerians about the scarcity of Naira notes and CBN is already working in that direction. New notes and more will be produced and Nigerians will have more Naira to spend.
- “It is not a deliberate policy to stifle Nigerians or to take Naira out of Nigerians during the Godwin Emefiele days. That is not the case. It is a process perhaps that the CBN is undertaking that has created a temporary shortfall and we are hoping that as we go into the New Year, we’ll see a more robust supply of the naira nodes.”
Backstory
- According to different media reports, naira notes have been scarce across the country.
- Most Automated Teller Machines (ATM) dispensing spots in different places in the country are currently not dispensing, forcing most businesses to rely on PoS merchants for their transactions.
- A recent survey done by Nairametrics showed that PoS operators are charging as high as 100% in transaction fees due to the difficulty in accessing cash.
- With fears that there might be a resurgence of the naira redesign policy whereby Nigerians were unable to access their hard-earned money, many believe the CBN is hoarding the old naira notes from circulation.
- Meanwhile on December 13, the CBN issued a circular stating that there are N3.4 trillion in circulation nationwide.
- The CBN’s acting director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, gave this assurance.
- She said: “There is indeed an increase in currency in circulation. From N1 trillion in February 2023, we have seen a rise to over N3.4 trillion as of December 11, 2023. This demonstrates that enough cash is available, but unfortunately, it’s not circulating due to apprehension among some individuals.
- “We empathize with the recent and past experiences of Nigerians. The CBN assures everyone that we have adequate cash to meet daily transaction needs, even during the upcoming festive season.”
- She attributed the current cash crunch to some persons’ hoarding the naira due to challenges experienced during the naira redesign policy earlier in 2023.
- She added that the CBN was monitoring the situation and had released sufficient cash to its branches nationwide for onward distribution to deposit money to banks (DMBs).
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