…ACAMB absolves Banks from hoarding new currency, says scarcity will be over soon
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said the apex bank is not considering extending the deadline for the swapping of the old naira notes with the newly redesigned notes.
Emefiele made this known on Friday while addressing journalists in Lagos State, hours after President Muhammadu Buhari met with Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Emefiele, the CBN acknowledges the pains Nigerians are facing in accessing the new naira notes and are working on closing the gaps observed in the circulation process.
Emefiele said the apex bank will extend cash swap to microfinance banks and engage 30,000 super agents in the hinterlands as part of new measures to accelerate the circulation of new naira notes and ease the scarcity of the new naira notes.
According to Emefiele, the CBN is discussing with banks to make alternative Channels easily accessible and easy for Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) has faulted claims that banks are hoarding the new naira notes but expressed optimism that the scarcity of the currency would end soonest.
“ACAMB affirms without any equivocation that banks are not in any way hoarding or holding back naira notes or engaging in any act inimical to our avowed commitment to exciting customer experience,” ACAMB President Rasheed Bolarinwa said in a Sunday statement.
“ATMs are being loaded every day and cash is being paid as provided by the CBN, as regularly being checked by CBN Inspectors and other regulators including anti-graft agencies.”
While reiterating its support for the CBN’s cashless policy, ACAMB noted that banks have in the past weeks rolled out extra measures to ease the flow of naira notes.
“These measures, among others, include deployment of extra technical supports for online payments, additional security at ATMs to ensure all-clock usage, technological back-up to reduce online downtime to the barest minimum, additional staff deployment to counters to attend to cash transactions and timely interbank and inter-branch networking to bridge any gap,” the statement added.
“We are confident that these measures, in addition to efforts by the regulatory CBN, will result in greater ease of access and cash liquidity. The Federal Government and the CBN have reiterated similar readiness to address any constraint in the cyclical flow, including making adjustments, where necessary.”
Sunday’s comment comes in the wake of reported attacks on bank facilities and staff by angry customers who are facing difficulties accessing cash.
But ACAMB is calling on the “Nigerian banking public to exercise patience and not to resort to any untoward behavior against bank staff or banking facilities”.
Olusola Bello