Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has assured the public that the country’s new cash withdrawal policy is not meant to inconvenience citizens but rather to help the economy.
After meeting President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state, Emefiele told reporters that many countries were adopting digitisation and going cashless.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has capped weekly OTC cash withdrawals at N100,000 for individuals and N500,000 for businesses.
The purpose of Emefiele’s visit to Buhari, he said, was to update the president on recent developments at the Central Bank of Nigeria and the economy.
Buhari was “very happy and said we should carry on our work, no need to fear, no need to bother about anybody,” according to the head of the central bank.
Emefiele added that the new cash withdrawal policy would not be rescinded but that its specifics would be evaluated after its effectiveness had been measured.
For his part, Emefiele admitted, “We will be reviewing from time to time how this is working because I cannot say that we are going to be rigid.”
“But it is not to say that we will reverse, it is not to say that we will change the timing, but whether it is about tricking (sic) some amount to be a little bit higher or a little bit lower, and all the rest of them.
“We will do so because we are humans; we want to make sure that we are making life good for our people. We do not want to make life difficult for them.
“So, there is no need for anybody to worry, the central bank is monitoring what is happening, and I can assure everyone that we are up and alive to our responsibilities and will do what is right for Nigeria and Nigerians.
“We think, Nigeria as a big country, the biggest economy in Africa, that we need to leapfrog into the cashless economy.
“We cannot continue to allow a situation where over 85 per cent of the cash in circulation is outside the bank. More and more countries that are embracing digitisation have gone cashless.”
And Emefiele added that the policy was not aimed at any particular individuals or groups.
He elaborated, saying, “I said it at different fora, that this is not targeted at anybody, just meant for the good and development of the Nigerian economy, and we can only continue to appeal to Nigerians to please see this policy the way we have presented it.”
Moreover, the head of the CBN reported that the banking system had received N1 trillion in currency of various denominations.
“We have taken more than half a trillion, and in the bank, we also have close to half a trillion. But what we have done in the central bank is to move more people from different departments into currency processing so that they can process this cash as quickly as possible, and from there, banks can now move what they have with them,” he said.
He also mentioned that customers can now receive their share of the fresh cash delivered to banks on Wednesday.
“I can assure you it will go round; let us be calm. Luckily the old currency continued to be legal tender till January 31, 2023.
“So, I want to crack a joke; both the painted (new notes) and unpainted (old notes) will operate concurrently as legal tender. But by January 31, the unpainted one will not be useful to you again, so please take it to your bank as quickly as possible.”