The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has urged Federal Government to save Nigeria’s fragile economy from further crashing with its multi-faceted problems including petrol scarcity and currency redesign challenge.
NECA’s Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, made the call in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.
Oyerinde also urged government to urgently ensure availability of the new Naira notes, and to prosecute saboteurs of the policy.
He said that such action would ease the frustration of Nigerians and avert the impending breakdown of law and order.
He said that one worrisome and distinctive feature of recent economic policies remained their poor implementation.
“The country is not short of good policies, but implementation by relevant authorities remained a challenge; while the naira redesign is commendable, the implementation so far is short of commendable.
‘’A policy purportedly designed to curb inflation, encourage the cashless culture and foster financial inclusion among others is inadvertently pushing many Nigerians into frustration.
‘’This is in view of the current epileptic Bank transfers and inefficient e-payment systems, and general inadequacy of online banking infrastructure.
‘’The current situation portends grave danger for the economy, because Nigerians have no access to the new notes, businesses are short of sales and most employees find it difficult to go to work because of lack of cash.
‘’It is apt to conclude that it could be counter-productive to seek to implement a cashless economy abruptly, when at the same time the new Naira notes are being rolled out in limited quantities within an impracticably short timeframe”, he said.
The director-general said that due to rising inflation and real reduction in citizens’ purchasing power, the nation could be witnessing financial losses in many Small and Medium Scale businesses and also shutting down of many large businesses.
He lamented that as Nigerians grappled with scarcity of cash, they were at the same time confronted with high cost of Petrol, a product for which trillions of naira is expended as subsidy.
According to him, businesses also continue to face increasing energy cost, inadequate Foreign Exchange rates, and high operating costs among others.
He said that financial experts have confirmed that contrary to CBN’s view, Nigeria does not have excessive cash in circulation, noting that the cash is less than two per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
‘’The latest report by the Central Bank of Nigeria actually shows that currency in circulation is only N 3 trillion out of N 52 trillion aggregate money supply.
‘’If the monetary policy is not working as we have seen overtime, it is not because of the N 3 trillion out of N 52 trillion, which is less than six per cent; and making our currency scarce only increases the incentive for counterfeiting.
‘’Also, more immediate and drastic action should be taken to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products to cushion the harsh effects of current scarcity”, he said.
Oyerinde said that making Nigerians spend hours on queue for a product that the nation is naturally blessed with, which is also subsidised is not only contradictory, but also shameful.
