The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, says President Buhari, is unhappy with the hardships Nigerians are facing due to the newly redesigned Naira notes.
She said this while speaking at the 65th ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team in the State House, Abuja.
She said the federal government was worried about the suffering of citizens over the currency swap in banks across the country but described the development as “transient pain.” She stated that the current hardship Nigerians are experiencing in order to get the new naira notes is a “temporary situation” needed for the country’s economic growth.
While reacting to a question on whether the government was not worried that its beautiful idea was causing untold hardship in the lives of Nigerians, especially in an election year, she said.
She added, “Of course, we are worried.” We are not happy that citizens have to queue and struggle at ATMs to be able to get their cash. But this is a temporary situation. Let me just give you an analogy. If you have a wound, for you to be able to heal that wound, you need to be dressed. And sometimes, when you go to the hospital, they put iodine on the wound and it is very painful. It is necessary to do that to be able to get the wound to heal. So, it’s not easy. Mr. President is not happy that citizens are suffering. However, we are convinced that it is something that must be done at this time, and the Central Bank has been responsive in terms of providing some extensions as well as additional explanations regarding the closing date, so it is not all over.
“Citizens still have the option, as provided for in Section 20 of the CBN Act, to take their old currency to the central bank for redemption. So, it’s not all over. But the positive side of it is that a lot of currency has been mopped up by this operation. And it means it has achieved a good level of success, but the only sore point is the pain that it has caused to citizens which is regrettable, but which is also very transient and temporary and the bulk is continuing to address”.
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