Cash Crunch: POS Operators, Others Blame CBN For Citizens’ Suffering

Some Point of Sales (POS) operators, other entrepreneurs in Port Harcourt have blamed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the continuous suffering of the masses and their businesses since the inception of the redesign policy of the naira notes (#200, #500 and #1000.00).
The operators, who said CBN exposed them to loses by their stubboness and delay in accepting the court orders on the use of the old notes, stated that after buying naira at a very high rate from cash barons, they were forced to sell at a lose.
One of the operators, who pleaded anonymity, said it was the persistent declarations by CBN Governor that put him in the present loss, adding “I will loss not less than #400 on each #1000.00 transaction.
“If CBN Governor had accepted the court order when it came, the story would have been different. After all the suffering by Nigerians because of his show of muscle. We are back to square 1.
“Even at this point now, we are still suffering because cash (both old and new) is still not made available to Nigerians through the Automated Teller Mechines (ATM). People crowd the bank halls to get little money, as against the usual practice of using your card to withdraw from Mechines.
“I will not blame CBN Governor but myself for believing him. I also know the Apex bank would relax over the new and old notes issue till December, so as to expose the citizens to another set of suffering in December when the extended date would expire. Our leaders enjoy watching us suffer”.
Another Operator, Mr. Monday Asawana, told The Tide that the setback of the policy in businesses would take the next two years to correct due to the lakadaisical attitude of our leaders.
“The exposed us to this level of suffering simply because they want to win election. They do not care about us and however we suffer. Elections are over, yet Nigerians are still suffering the cash crunch”, he said.
Another entrepreneur and POS Operator, Mrs. Ify Onyeoma, said, “I paid high transportation from Iwofe to Waterline (Aba Road) to look for cash for my business. After wasting all the time, l came back with N5,000. This is Nigeria for you.
“The issue is that nobody is telling the real truth of what is happening. I am using this opportunity to plead with the leaders in the financial sector to make our money available for our businesses”.

By: Lilian Peters