NECA warns of long consequences of 10 weeks of reduced productivity, job cuts
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has warned of the ripple effects of the naira swap policy, saying it will take a long time for businesses, especially the informal sector, to recover.
It reiterated in a statement that many businesses have closed due to the low purchasing power of consumers.
NECA commended the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the federal government for embracing dialogue and heeding the call of stakeholders to stop labour’s planned nationwide strike before it began on March 29.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown goodwill and true support for the ailing economy by immediately disbursing cash to the commercial banks and directing them to open beyond their normal working hours to ease the cash crunch in the nation.
“This action could have been averted in the first place,” NECA Director General Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde said in the statement, according to Vanguard.
Reduced productive output, high inventory, job cuts
“We commend the efforts of [CBN] Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, and the … Minister of Labour and Employment for personally getting involved and monitoring the disbursement to ensure compliance with the Bank’s directive to end the cash crunch, which the economic nerve-centre and other areas have started witnessing improvement.
“Business activities had stagnated in the last 10 weeks of the implementation of redesigning of the currency policy nationwide leading to reduced productive output, high inventory and job cuts and impediments to personal and business transactions.”
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Naira rationing continues despite increased CBN supply to banks
Naira rationing by banks has continued despite the CBN having supplied more cash to them since last weekend.
Some banks in parts of Lagos pay N10,000 to customers through ATM per day, others pay N40,000 over the counter.
Stanbic IBTC Bank pays N10,000 through ATM and N20,000 over the counter. First Bank pays N40,000 via ATM.
Most bank branches in major cities received cash ranging from N10 million to N15 million from their head office week ending March 24, an increase of about 1,000 per cent compared with an average N1 million per week earlier in March.
Some banks do no longer enforce CBN cash withdrawal limits although there is rationing in branches where withdrawal is high.
“My branch received N15 million over the weekend. We did not open on the weekend but today we allowed customers to withdraw any amount and the N15 million has been exhausted. But we are expecting cash supply tomorrow,” a bank official said.
However, some bank customers expressed dissatisfaction with their inability to withdraw as much cash as they desire, stressing the amount paid is not adequate for their immediate needs.