By Omoh Gabriel, Business Editor

Banks are in panic mood as most of the high net-worth customers, artisans and daily employers of labour, eateries, merchants, vendors etc are thinking of how to secure their funds following the CBN directives on cash withdrawal limit.

These categories of bank customers, Vanguard learnt, are planning to move their funds from naira to foreign currency they can convert or take along with them without hindrance.

Most hit with the policy are companies and artisans who engage daily labour and pay wages on daily basis as well as those who make sales and have to deposit large cash on daily basis.

Most of them who do not want their names in print said the cost to their business will be too high for them to bear when the policy finally takes off.

According to a calculation done by one of the construction companies in their bid to plan for the policy, show that for a company that withdraws or deposits an average of N5million which will be N4million above the CBN limit, will have to pay N800,000 at N200 per thousand per withdrawal or deposit. This, they say, will be passed on to the end-users of their services.

The official said if the CBN is talking about inflation, the policy will lead to increase in the prices of goods and services as companies and individuals rendering services so affected will pass the cost to the end-users of their products or services.

They said for individuals, especially those who engage daily labour who withdraw about N500,000 on daily basis or those who deposit such amount from sales to meet the payment requirement, will be exceeding the CBN limit by N350,000. This will mean that such individuals will lose N35, 000 as charges at N100 per thousand in excess of the CBN limit.

They argue that what the CBN should have done is to make the policy operate along the current practice for a period of time and allow the banks and those who will set up the points of sale to test-run the system. When the needed infrastructure is in place, such a limit can then be imposed.