Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zaniab Ahmed, has said President, Muhammadu Buhari shares in the pain Nigerians are going through in accessing the redesigned naira notes.
She revealed that the President expressed that the pain was a temporary stress which will end soon.
Ahmed,who spoke at the 65th State House briefings coordinated by the Presidential Media Team on Thursday,said that a sizeable old funds have been mopped back into the banking system,which will give the regulatory agencies control over the nation’s currencies.
Speaking on whether the government is actually worried over the development in the financial sector, she said:” of course we are worried, we are not happy that citizens have to queue and struggle to get their cash but this is a temporary situation.
“Let me give you an analogy, this situation can be compared to a patient having a sore and while treating the sore, you must apply some iodine or spirit which is usually very painful.
“Mr President is not happy that citizens are sufferring but come the closing date which the Central Bank of Nigeria has given, it will not all be over as a window still exist for people to return their old notes.There is also the positive side to it, which is that a lot of currency has been mopped up back into the system”.