The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced that it will limit the amount of cash withdrawn over the counter.
This was revealed by Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, during a press conference following the launch of the new Naira banknotes in Abuja on Wednesday.
He continued by saying that the CBN would collaborate with law enforcement organizations like the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to make tracking and complicate large withdrawals.
The amount of money that can be withdrawn from the counter will be drastically reduced, according to Emefiele, who also noted that bulk withdrawals would necessitate several steps and security checks to track use.
He said, “There is no economy imbued with the thinking that it has to be a cash economy; the world has moved from predominantly cash to a cashless economy. And I think Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria are prepared to move towards a cashless economy. And that is why following the redesign and issuance of this note, we will insist that cashless will be nationwide.”
“We will restrict the volume of cash that people can withdraw over the counter. If you need to draw large volumes of cash, you will fill out uncountable forms; we will take your data, whether it’s your BVN or NIN, so that our law enforcement agencies like EFCC and ICPC can follow you and be sure that you are taking that money for a good purpose,” he added.
Aside from the newly designed notes, he also pointed out that this action would guarantee that the apex bank has excellent control over the amount of money in circulation.
The CBN Governor added that no one is specifically targeted by the new action while pointing out that previous attempts to redesign naira notes met with resistance.
According to him, “The Central Bank of Nigeria, by law, has the mandate to reissue and redesign currency for the country, and for Nigerian people, every five to eight years. And I want to hope that after the event of today, the Central Bank of Nigeria can take it as part of its programs to see that the currencies are designed or reissued every five to eight years.
He said, “It is mainly because the central bank should be able to control the size of currency in circulation fully. That is the actual mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria because it has implications for monetary policy management in the country.”
“There is no need for anybody to think this program is targeted at anyone. Like you heard the President, he said, this discussion about redesigning and reissuing currency started early in the year.”
