Petty traders in Bauchi have decried the scarcity of lower denomination currencies in circulation in the state, saying the development was affecting their fortune.
Some of them who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday said because of the micro nature of their trade, scarcity of N5, N10, N20 and N50 notes were affecting their daily sales, thereby reducing their profit.
One of them, Mr Hamisu Ladan, who operates provision store at Wunti Market, said the scarcity had affected his daily turn-over.
“The scarcity of the lower denomination currencies has affected sales negatively; you lose customers if you do not have ‘change” for lower Naira denomination
“Most customers come and leave without any transaction taking place; petty traders are disturbed about this development.
“We are in dire need of lower denominations to make good sales,” he said.
Malam Junaidu Garba, Kola nuts hawker, also lamented the development, adding that “even this morning, I could not transact business with three customers because of scarcity of lower denomination to give as change.”
“We transact business mostly in low denominations such as N10, N20, N50 and N100, as such, we need them for our business to move,” he said.
Musa Dambam, a commercial motorcycle operator, said he and his colleagues were facing the same challenge.
“Sometimes, we had to be forfeiting the transport fare if a customer has no lower Naira denomination. By the time you do that several times, the amount lost is much.
“That is why we now ensure that our passengers have ‘change’ before taking them to their destination,” he said.
Mrs Monica Samuel who sells snacks in front of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, also said lack of lower currency notes posed a serious challenge on sales.
“The challenge of scarcity of lower notes in circulation is impacting negatively on our businesses,” she said.
According to her, lower Naira notes are not found in Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and even if available, few people often emptied them within a short period by making large withdrawals.
Samuel appealed to authorities concerned to produce lower currency denominations to reduce the shortage.
A source at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Bauchi, who did not want his name in print, said the authorities were aware of the scarcity and would address the problem soon
Also speaking to NAN on condition of anonymity, a senior staff with one of the commercial banks in Bauchi said they normally had “inflow” than “outflow” of the lower denomination currencies in commercial banks.
“Mostly the lower denominations come from customers in to the bank than our banks sending outside.
“The scarcity does not affect our banks because we do not print money and most of our customers transact in higher denomination currencies,” he said.
It would be recalled that last month, the Senate mandated its joint committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, to investigate the scarcity of N5,N10,N20,N50 ,N100 and N200 Notes.
This was sequel to the adoption of a motion by Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP Delta –North) titled “Scarcity of Lower Denomination Currency Notes.”
Nwaoboshi had expressed concern that scarcity of the notes was posing a threat to the economy of the nation, which was just recovering from recession.
The lawmaker said that the nation’s currency was highly essential and critical in national development, adding that if mismanaged, the economy would be doomed, with adverse effect on the people and the nation.
He had noted that banks in Nigeria no longer dispensed lower Naira denominations, with the excuse that they hardly received same from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Nwaoboshi said that if the situation was not remedied urgently, it might lead to total collapse of the economy.
Also, Sen. Magnus Abe (APC-Rivers), who contributed during the debate on the matter, said the lower denomination currencies remained legal tender, and that their scarcity was ” an indirect way of pushing up the prices of commodities.”
“In this matter, we must be careful not to place this country in such a position that the economy is no longer managed by those that we asked to manage it.
“When circumstances outside of our own dictates begin to determine the action that we take, then it means that we are not in control,” Abe said.