Cashless Policy: CBN tells the Senate that the policy is not new

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) defended its policy on cash withdrawal limitations on Friday, claiming that it wasn’t new and wasn’t directed at any specific group of people.

In a statement to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, the apex bank team explained their point of view and said that the policy of N100,000 and N500,000 withdrawal limits was in the best interest of the country.

In the middle of the controversy over the policy, Mrs. Aishat Ahmad, the deputy governor of the CBN for financial system stability, said that a similar policy had been put in place in 2012 by former President Goodluck Jonathan and then expanded to Abuja and six other states in 2013.

Mrs. Ahmad and Mr. Edward Lametek went to Abuja on Friday to talk to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions about being reappointed as deputy governors of the Central Bank.

She said that in 2012, Lagos, Abuja, and six other states implemented a cashless policy as part of a test program.

Even though the CBN hasn’t fully put the policy into place yet, she said that when it was first put in place, it caused big changes in the banking and payment systems.

I’m glad to have the chance to talk about the proposed limit of N100,000 per week for individuals and N500,000 per week for corporations starting on January 9, 2023. This is in line with the cashless policy that was set up in 2012.

“CBN has enough information to know that it’s time to fully implement the planned weekly limit on cash withdrawals,”

“There was no need for concern because the necessary infrastructure for the policy’s execution has been put in place, including the mobile money, e-naira, and financial access point systems.”

“In the past, financial transactions in Nigeria were only possible through bank branches, which have since spread to several electronic platforms and seen a geometric increase in the number of agents from 88,000 to 1.4 million,” the speaker stated.