Members of organised labour have spoken out against the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cash withdrawal policy, warning that it will further strain the country’s already shaky economy.
Since most people in rural areas and those working in the informal economy lack access to traditional banking services, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) pointed out that the CBN’s decision to limit the amount of cash that can be withdrawn from ATMs would have a devastating impact on their ability to operate. It implied that many more people in Nigeria would be forced into poverty.
Since stakeholders were not consulted before the public disclosure of this policy, NLC president Comrade Ayuba Wabba declared in Abuja that the call for the review is becoming necessary.
“We believe this policy is largely knee-jerk and should be immediately reviewed or completely withdrawn. The truth is that this policy poses an abiding threat to the livelihood of millions of Nigerians and their families,” he highlighted.
Even though the apex bank has raised the weekly withdrawal limit for individuals to N500,000, Wabba still claims that “the fiscal policy, which on paper appears to target the rich, especially unscrupulous ones who manipulate the system to launder money, has now become a case of trying to kill a fly with a machine gun.”
Wabba stated, “the truth is that Nigerians, particularly rural dwellers are the ones feeling the full punch of this policy. The reasons are not far-fetched. First, the Nigerian economy is largely informal and substantially rural, as many of our people live in rural locations. The impact of this policy can be easily felt in rural markets where agricultural commodities, livestock, and farm produce are traded.”
Because employees in the informal economy are responsible for operating the estimated 18 million POS devices that are now in use, he stated that “there is no gainsaying the fact that this policy by the CBN will put majority of them out of business and rob their families their daily subsistence. With the galloping rate of multidimensional poverty in Nigeria, especially rural poverty, the impact of this policy for millions of Nigerians is really scary!”