CBN shuns Reps order to suspend new cash withdrawal policy, gets Buhari’s support

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has revealed that the withdrawal policy announced recently could be adjusted after assessment.

On Thursday, Emefiele said the central bank will not be rigid towards the policy, but the financial regulator had no plan of suspending it.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that the House of Representatives had deliberated on the timing, purpose, and impact of the withdrawal policy on Nigerians, requesting that it should be halted.

The policy had instructed banks and other financial institutions to reduce withdrawal over-the-counter to N100,000 for individuals and N500,000 for businesses.

Also, the apex bank had reduced withdrawal from Auto Teller Machines and Points of Sale (PoS) to N20,000 daily, and N100,000 weekly, amongst other cuts.

READ ALSO:Senate raises concerns over new CBN policy, to debate it next week

Following the announcement, Emefiele held a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, in Daura, Katsina state, to brief him on the withdrawal policy.

At the end of the meeting, he told newsmen that President Buhari was in support of the decision, and had informed the CBN not to bother about anybody.

“We will be reviewing from time to time how this is working because I cannot say that we are going to be rigid,” Emefiele said, adding “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 tweaking 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 we 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 percent of the cash that is in circulation is outside the bank. More and more countries that are embracing digitisation have gone cashless.”

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