Lower denominations of Naira become scarce in Kano

Business activities in the commercial city of Kano is currently being affected by the scarcity of lower Naira denomination, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
Most businesses and commercial activities are now transacted with a lot of stress of spending time looking for change when higher denominations are offered by customers.
Malam Sani Saleh, a grain dealer at International Grain Market, Dawanau, told NAN that the time used in selling their products was now taking longer.
Saleh said this was because more time was spent looking for change of lower currency denominations when customers offered higher denominations.
He said: “We are left with coping with our customer’s change issues.
“I have to ask a customer if he has change first before embarking on sale.
“You may end up going round the entire market without getting change of N1,000 or N500.
“This has been going on for quite a while.
“Since last year (2013) actually.”
NAN investigation showed that denominations of N1,000 are also dispensed most of the time by Automated Teller Machines and customers are made to go to petrol filling stations to look for change.
A petrol attendant, Garba Ibrahim, told NAN: “The way people come for change is alarming.
“Sometimes, you are afraid to give change because of fear that the money is fake.
“If by the end of the day you get a fake N1,000 or N500, you are in trouble.”
The scarcity of the lower currency denominations also affects commercial vehicles and tricycle operators, with most of them keeping passengers waiting in the vehicles while they look for change.