Despite the assurances by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that cash I circulation has hit N3.4tr and repeated statements by the apex bank on the availability of the domestic currency, checks have shown that the cash scarcity persists in most parts of Lagos and Ogun states.
Visits to several Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) show machines that are not dispensing cash.
The few machines that could be seen dispensing can only dispense N10,000 or in some cases N20,000 per ATM card.
Also, customers were limited to N10,000 over the counter cash withdrawals from the banking halls whilst some banks were totally out of cash.
Some of the tier one bank branches visited had no cash available as they said they were waiting for cash while those that had rationed the available cash to N10,000 per customer irrespective of whether the account was individual or corporate.
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Also, Point of Sales (POS) operators have hiked their charges.
Previously, charges on N10,000 withdrawal were pegged at N200 but the charges have been jerked up to N300.
An operator who does not want to be named said he had not been able to source enough cash to give to his customers.
According to him, he normally gets his cash from petrol stations and at other times, from the banks.
He disclosed that for the past few days he has not been able to get cash from his usually dependable source, as such he had to increase the charges on the small amount of cash he manages to get
“The petrol station where I normally get cash have been unable to give me cash for some days now, they told me that customers have been paying with their cards or transfers so I have been unable to get cash from them.
“They are also looking for cash the same way I am also looking for cash. I can’t go to the banks to get cash because they don’t even have. Some of my customers that came to me also confirmed that they were unable to get cash from the ATM or from banking halls,” he said.