There are strong signs that the persisting crisis in cash circulation in the country may continue for a while even as the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) has announced plans to begin investigations.
Bank customers nationwide have bemoaned the acute scarcity of cash and complaining on how it has affected their daily living as most banks have restricted over-the-counter cash withdrawals and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) to between N10,000 and N20,000 per day.
This is even as most ATMs are left undeposited with cash by banks for days at a time.
This situation is made worse by the fact that when the banks are unable to dispense cash to customers, the Point of Sales, (PoS) operators just beside or opposite the banks have enough cash to dole out to the customers, fuelling suspicions that bank officials and these PoS operators had conspired to short-change innocent customers of their hard earned money.
However, all isn’t as it seems as findings from journalists revealed the PoS operators themselves are sometimes, left cash strapped by these banks.
What They’re Saying
When the PoS operators were queried on how they always seemed to have enough cash for their customers even while they were situated near the banks without cash, they said:
“PoS operators have multiple sources of cash. They maintain multiple bank accounts. They go after businesses such as petrol stations, supermarkets and other traders to get their day’s cash.”
Meanwhile, CBN sources have insinuated that the apex bank is perturbed over the fact that despite the full supply of cash to the banks from its vaults, the banks are still complaining of cash shortage.
The sources further said that situation, would hopefully be addressed by an investigation the apex bank would soon embark upon, stating that any bank found indulging in any cash malpractice would be severely sanctioned.
