The poorly thought out, poorly timed and very poorly executed currency redesign exercise has thrown this country into chaos. Old currency has been mopped up, in the rural areas there are no banks to collect the old money, new currency is in severe short supply, there are long and rowdy queues at ATMs, most ATMs are empty, banks are saying they have no new money to dispense, CBN is saying they hoarded it, the informal economy has grounded to a halt since traders and artisans will not accept old money and customers have no new money.
CBN changes its directive to banks nearly every day. In some cities transporters have downed tools and blocked the roads, while in other cities NGOs are picketing banks and accusing them of sabotaging CBN policies. And then some top politicians are saying that the whole thing was a political sabotage scheme by elements in the Presidency to pre-determine election results.
Well, whatever it is, Presidency, dig us out of this quagmire. The best solution is to adhere to the resolution unanimously passed by BOTH chambers of the National Assembly. POSTPONE this whole thing by SIX MONTHS. Tell the banks to resume issuing old notes. Then traders will accept them because the time span is long. Meanwhile, CBN and the Mint should have enough time to make the new ones available. But for Heaven’s sake, END THIS QUAGMIRE NOW!
