Banks in Calabar decry inadequate cash flow

Commercial banks in Calabar, Cross River state are experiencing inadequate cash to dispense to customers who just came back from Christmas and New Year public holidays. Our correspondent who went round banks in Calabar observed that banks hardly gave out the exact amount of money demanded by their customers. The banks either give out half or one-quarter of the money.

“We don’t have enough money to dispense to customers. That had been our greatest headache this time around. All efforts to get enough money from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) proved abortive. Hence, we have to cut down on the demand of our customers. We regret such happenings but we have no alternative because we have to service everybody,” a banker said.

He further said that although the customers have pressing needs and the money in the banks’ positions are customer’s money, the banks owed the customers obligation to give them their money on demand, but the banks cannot help the situation. The banks, according to some staff who pleaded anonymity begged customers to understand even as they pleaded with the federal government to release the money so that people can have access to it.

At Ekondo Microfinance Bank and other banks visited, civil servants who had their December salaries paid to them could not get all their entitlements because there was not enough cash. Some workers who went to the bank around 9 am had to wait until 3.30pmbefore money was given to them. “We were here since 10 am but could not get our money until 4 pm when bank officials came back from an unknown destination,” a staff from the local government affairs office told our correspondent.

However, some aggrieved government workers who confided in our correspondent lamented over their experience during the celebration. “We did not get our December salary and now that it came, we cannot get our complete money. They are now blaming it on cash flow. What they mean by cash flow is what we do not know. We plead with the banks to pay us our full money. Giving us half is disastrous and we need our complete money,” a customer lamented.