Most traders in FCT markets are reducing the prices of their goods for customers paying with cash to enable them make sales.
The traders on Monday said that their inability to get cash with which to purchase goods to stock their shops made them to give discounts to customers buying the goods with cash.
They, therefore, appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make effort to address the lingering cash crunch to prevent a total collapse of economic activities.
Mr Innocent Agu, a butcher at the Lugbe Market, said he decided to give discount to those buying goods from him with cash as he needed money to buy cows.
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Agu said that although a kilo of meat was sold for N3,000, he could afford to sell the same volume of meat for N2,800 “because it is not easy to get money from the bank.
“However, for those buying by transferring money to my account, I sell at N3,500 per kilo as I have to pay charges to the Point of Sale (POS) operator who will give me cash.
“But I prefer collecting cash because those selling cows in the bush do not have bank accounts. So, we take cash there to buy from them.”
Malam Adamu Abubakar, who sells rice and beans at the Lugbe Market, said that a measure of beans sold for N750, but that, “If I see a customer who has cash, I can sell for N600.”
Another trader at the Garki Market, Malam Ahmed Aliyu, said that a small basket of tomatoes went for between N1,200 and N1,000, but that he was willing to sell for N800 if the payment was in cash.
Another trader, a vegetable seller at the Garki Market, Mrs Oluchi Ogbonna, said she sold cheaply because her goods could not be kept for long.
Ogbonna said that before now she sold a wrap of pumpkin leaves (ugu) for N200, but now sold the same wrap for N150 or N100 to be able to go back to the market and restock her stall.
She said, “I cannot collect money by transfer of N200. So, I sell cheaply so that people can buy them quickly as they are perishable goods.” (NAN)
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