CBN reduces minting of Naira

The increase in electronic banking transactions has made the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reduce the minting of the Naira.

The CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Dr Kingsley Obiora, disclosed this over the weekend in Abuja.

According to him, many major economies of the world have started reducing the use of cash as a form of business transaction.

He noted that in South Korea, 77 per cent of the people no longer use cash to do payments, while 30 per cent of the population in the Philippines don’t use cash as a form of exchange.

Obiora said in Nigeria, the reduction in the use of cash as a medium of exchange has led to an explosion in electronic businesses.

Specifically, the CBN Deputy Governor said that the value of e-business had grown from N393bn in 2014 to about N2.4trn currently.

Read also: CBN announces designated USSD code for eNaira transaction

He said, “In South Korea, 77 per cents no longer use cash to do payment, while in the Philippines, it is 30 per cent. In Nigeria too, we are also seeing the same decline in the use of cash; the minting of currencies in the CBN has been reducing in the last couple of years.

“So, alongside this reduction in the use of cash has also been an explosion in electronic business and e-business and we have seen the value of e-business grow from N393bn in 2014 to about N2.4trn now.

“And so, if you look at this movement, you will realize that the central banks in the world are responding to yearnings of citizens which is why citizens in 96 per cent of Central banks in the world are either working on digital currencies or they have done so already.”

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