In an effort to lessen the shortage of the newly designed naira notes, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reconsider its cash ratio policy.

Bankers Committee last week adopted the 40:30:30 cash ratio for Agent Cash Swaps, Over-the-Counter and ATMs for a seamless transition of the old currency notes to the recoloured notes.

However, HEDA claimed that it had reliable information that Agent Cash Swaps operators and banking officials were misusing access to the new notes and engaging in practices that would harm the economy for their own personal gain.

HEDA’s chair, Olanrewaju Suraju, in a statement, said operators were reselling the new notes to partygoers and some Nigerians at exorbitant rates. 

He further accused some bank officials of irresponsibly hoarding the cash from ordinary citizens and stashing them for politicians, thereby thwarting the purpose of the naira redesign.

He asked the CBN to partner law enforcement agencies to arrest the defaulters and bring them to justice.

Mr Suraju suggested that the apex bank allocate more new notes to metropolitan states like Lagos, where there is a large population of citizens, to ensure that the money was well circulated before the February 10 deadline. 

“The ratio should be reviewed to address different circumstances. Lagos and other metropolitan states should have more money through ATM and counter while rural areas can have more through the strictly monitored agents,” he said.