The Federal Government, on Monday, said shortages of cash at automated teller machines across the country were due to panic withdrawals and bankers who are apprehensive about handling cash amid the lockdown to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had, on March 29, announced the initial 14-day lockdown order, which was extended by on April 13.
Buhari, in his speech announcing the lockdown, made exemptions for essential businesses, including banks.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, while addressing journalists in Abuja on the ongoing COVID-19 national response, said restocking ATMs was essential.
Mustapha said, “I was just chatting with a representative of the apex bank as to why we have shortages in the ATMs and the account I’m getting is, one, as a result of panic withdrawals, and two, restocking — even the bankers are quite apprehensive of handling cash.
“It’s a combination of so many things. But they are engaging the banks to see, as much as possible, the restocking is done as often as possible. The other thing they are encouraging is, why don’t we do a lot of our transactions online?
“But I know the limitation of that. If you want to buy a ‘mudu’ of garri in the market, the man or woman selling the garri might not be receptive to an online transaction, not because he or she doesn’t want to, but probably because the facilities are not available.”
He also acknowledged that many traders were reluctant about online transactions because of past experiences with fraudsters.
“But I believe that the apex bank will continue to engage with the commercial banks to see how much they can do to ensure that they soften some of the processes they have put in place,” he added.
