By Chima Nwokoji | Lagos
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, Mr Bismarck Rewane, has expressed worry over the culture of shifting deadlines by the Federal Government and its agencies, stressing that such inconsistency erodes trust and confidence on the system thereby preparing ground for anarchy.
Rewane made this submission on Friday on a Channels TV programme monitored by the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos.
This follows the Central Bank of Nigeria’s deadline to phase out the circulation of old naira notes which the Supreme Court’s judgement restraining it from implementing the deadline has left Nigerians confused.
According to Rewane, every policy has its direct, indirect and unintended consequences which the government and policy makers should always take into consideration before handing out to the citizens.
The economic expert therefore projected a three to five percent drop in the gross domestic product (GDP) of first quarter (Q1) 2023 as a direct result of the naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN in October 2022, announced that it would redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes with a January 31 ultimatum set for the old notes.
President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned notes in November 2022.
Though the Central Bank extended the deadline by 10 days, the resulting nationwide scarcity fueled outrage amid point-of-sales (PoS) charge hikes and reports of several banking outlets hoarding the new notes.
The Supreme Court later ordered the apex bank to suspend implementation of the February 10 deadline.
Rewane, further shared some insights of the policy’s effects.
“The impact at the end of the day is that it will affect GDP this quarter, conservatively, by three percent, and aggressively it could reduce GDP in this quarter by five percent if nothing is done in a hurry,” he stated.
Data made available by the economist showed that the average number of people in front of an automated teller machine (ATM) in Lagos had increased sharply.
According to Rewane, the number of ATM users in downtown Lagos (Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki) used to be three to four; midtown (Ebute Meta), the number of ATM users at average times was eight, while one uptown (Alimosho) typically had 15.
He explained that the downtime to get one’s money out of the ATM used to be five minutes in Ikoyi, seven minutes in Ebute Meta, and 10 minutes in Alimosho.
“Fast-forward to now. The average number of people in front of an ATM in Ikoyi and Victoria Island is now 40. In midtown, Ebute Meta, it is about 100 people, and in Alimosho, it is about 600 people.
“The consequences are that flour sales in Lagos are down 30 percent. The rams in Kano are down 70 percent and cement in Kogi is down 40 percent of sales,” Rewane said.
Asked if the fallout of the currency swap policy would have any repercussions on the forthcoming elections, the economist did not see any direct effects.
“I am not sure that it will have any direct impact on the elections. The only thing is that in this quarter, the same institution that is handling currency is also handling the movement of election material.
“And in another month from now, you will also be dealing with the census. In our note that we sent out in late November, I warned that even an efficient government will suffer from policy indigestion. Now, it has come to pass.
“The indigestion has come out and the country is now constipated. So, what we should be looking for is a laxative to take care of this problem,” he added.
