President Muhammadu Buhari, according to Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, is saddened by the lamentations of Nigerians currently, especially with the scarcity of the new naira notes.
Speaking at the 65th ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team in the State House, Abuja, the minister admonished Nigerians to persevere a little more as the current hardship is only temporal.
On whether the Federal Government was not worried about the current hardship, Zainab said the initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was necessary for the country’s economic growth.
She likened the pains of citizens to a wound being treated which will eventually heal up after a little while. The Minister stressed that the new policy was paramount and appropriate at this moment to combat corruption at all levels.
According to her, it has some positive effects with the massive mopped-up of funds outside the banking system. Zainab said it was pitiful to see how citizens have to queue and struggle at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to be able to get their hard-earned cash.
“But this is a temporary situation,” she said. The Minister stressed that there is still an opportunity for citizens, as provided for in the CBN Act, Section 20 subsection 3, to visit the banking hall to deposit the old currency for the redemption of the new ones.
“So, it’s not all over. But the positive side of it is that there is a lot of currency that has been mopped up by this operation. And it means it has achieved a good level of success, but the only sore point is the pain that it has caused to citizens, which is regrettable, but which is also very transient and temporary, and the bulk is continuing to address,” Zainab said on behalf of President Buhari.
Raye24reporters reports that CBN had on Thursday following an outcry by Nigerians, directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned naira notes over the counter, subject to a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000.
