ASSBIFI raises alarm over impending job cuts

Senior bankers in the country, under the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, ASSBIFI, have called the attention of the Federal Government to possible job cuts in the nation’s banking sector because of the failing rate of Naira.

The alarm over job losses was raised by the President of the association, Comrade Sunday Salako while fielding questions from newsmen in Lagos, stating that banks and other financial institutions in the country can’t be separated from the shocks created by the fall in Naira.

He said: “There is no way the Naira fall in the country will not affect the banks as most of the banks in the country also borrowed in foreign denominated currencies for their business transactions. They have to pay more in Naira now to service the loan because of the fall in Naira value. The slide in Naira will have a toll on the balance sheets of the banks.

‘’The slide in Naira will also translate to how the banks can streamline their operation. You know what employers can do to reduce cost. Job losses will be part of it. We have not seen much for now, but it is just a matter of time when people will begin to notice this.”

According to Salako, a Deputy President of Trade Union Congress, TUC, the union is already devising means of militating against the risk members may face in case there are job losses, so as not to be caught unawares.

“’We are bracing up, monitoring and planning to have interface with employers to ensure that if it becomes necessary to sack, due process must be followed and people who would be affected would be adequately compensated so that they can also function in other sectors of the economy,’’ he said.

Salako said if the nation’s leaders had managed the resources of the country prudently, the country wouldn’t have been facing the challenges it is currently facing.

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