CBN’s ‘shameless implementation’ of Naira redesign favours speculators, economic saboteurs —NECA

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) said the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has resulted in favour of currency speculators and economic saboteurs.

NECA argued that the central bank was not equipped to manage the debacle from the attempt to introduce new Naira notes and phase out the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.

The association, in a statement obtained on Monday, but dated February 12, 2023, said legitimate businesses and the economy are at the receiving end of the ripple effects that ensued from CBN’s Naira policy.

“Thus far, it does not seem that the CBN understands the challenges, nor have solutions to the economic issues, thereby allowing speculators and economic saboteurs to have a field day at the expense of legitimate businesses and the economy,” the Director-General of NECA, Wale Oyerinde, stated.

Oyerinde said the CBN should have forestalled the social and economic challenges currently being experienced due to the Naira policy through detailed analysis.

According to him, over N10 billion in cash transactions are recorded daily in the formal and informal sectors, and the “shameless implementation of the policy” has threatened business sustainability and national development.

READ ALSO:NECA claims Nigeria loses $2.5bn oil revenue monthly, demands reversal of Buhari’s policies

He revealed that the real sector witnessed about a 40 per cent drop in productive activities, as employees are unable to get to work due to their inability to access cash.

Oyerinde said the central bank should have upgraded alternative routes to cash before pushing Nigerians toward the digital channel.

“In the last few weeks, with the cash squeeze and the purchasing ability of Nigerians greatly impaired by the shameless implementation of the policy, the economy has witnessed a significant bashing with report stating that the real sector witnessed about 40 per cent drop in productive activities.

“As the cash crush continues, thousands of productive hours are lost daily on queues by employees and many cannot even get to work,” Oyerinde revealed.

He added, “We urge that critical and immediate effort should be made to improve or upgrade alternative routes to cash, thereby ensuring seamless transactions before going digital.

“The series of actions being taken by the CBN now in the form of having agent naira swap, etc are afterthoughts, after the reality of resistant by Nigerians. It is callous to deprive citizens of the new naira notes after cajoling them to deposit the old ones in the banks.”

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