Banks in Nigeria have done a downward review on the daily limit on
withdrawals, P.O.S. payments and international transactions. This review is
pertinent in the face of the crisis beleaguering the Naira and it is
intended to strengthen it. As a result of this review, the amount of cash
customers can have access to on a daily basis has been reduced.
The new withdrawal
limit for local withdrawals is Sixty Thousand Naira (N60, 000.00) per day as
against the previous withdrawal limit of One Hundred & Fifty Thousand Naira
(N150, 000.00) while the Three Hundred Dollars ($300.000) daily withdrawal
limit that has been effective since April, 2015 was maintained.
To an ordinary man,
this means he cannot walk in to an electronics shop to buy an electronic
appliance or device worth over Sixty Thousand Naira (N60,000.00) at once, this
is because this new policy cannot accommodate transactions worth more than the
prescribed limit for daily withdrawal and P.O.S. payments. At this rate, we
might have to revert to the days of cheque issuance or cash piling, to be able
to pay for things that are worth more than Sixty Thousand Naira (N60,000.00).
It takes twenty four
hours (24 hours) for a cheque to go through clearing and considering the fact
that the sales process in Nigeria is usually on the fast lane, this would slow the
pace of business especially for small and medium scale businesses which form the
bedrock of the economy. Cash piling would not work either, because it would
take four days to withdraw Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira (N240, 000.00) to
pay for an urgent transaction and customers
stand the risk of being robbed.
Furthermore, it is common
knowledge in Nigeria that most hospital managements insist on deposit payments
in cases of emergency; if the required payment is beyond the required withdrawal
threshold of Sixty Thousand Naira (N60,000.00) and the patient has no cash
enough to make the payment on the spot, what would be the fate of the patient?
The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) promised to meet all legitimate application for foreign exchange
currencies at the interbank exchange rate. This development would require
people traveling for business and personal purposes to apply for BTA (Business
Traveling Allowance) and PTA (Personal Travelling Allowance) respectively. This
is going to pose as a major challenge as people stand the chance of
falling victims of robbery attack.
The pace at which these
laws are being enacted is alarming; we go to bed at night and wake up to new
laws. The banks do not give their customers ample time to adjust to these laws.
The level of instability in the system is a cause for alarm.
Nigerians are about the
most widely traveled in Africa and the purpose of these trips could be
personal, business, conferences, medical, education, etc. For example, how is a
family that is traveling for summer vacation expected to survive on Three
Hundred Dollars ($300.00) per day? They would pay for their hotel bills, feed,
shop, etc. This is not in any way realistic.
CBN and Nigerian Banks in general, should come up with policies
that would better the lives of its customers and not the reverse. There is a
need for banks to create flexible products that can accommodate the needs of
its customers.
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