Ezekwesili accuses CBN of punishing Nigerians with disastrous policies

The newest policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) limiting cash withdrawals to particular amounts has sparked mixed reactions from Nigerians both home and abroad.

This was as the former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, accused the apex financial institution in the country of punishing innocent Nigerians for the sins they never committed.

CBN had on Tuesday announced a policy which limited weekly cash withdrawals over the counter to N100,000 for individuals and N500,000 for organisations regardless of their size.

The apex financial institution also limited withdrawal at POS terminals to N20,000 per day for individuals, stating that the directive would take effect from January 9, 2023.

This development was indicative of CBN’s preparation to effect a change of naira notes in circulation starting from December 15.

Ezekwesili, who commented on the proposed monetary policy in a series of tweets on Wednesday, described it as disastrous.

Read also:2023: Ezekwesili proffers solution to absence of presidential candidates in pre-election debates

She slammed the apex financial institution for making life difficult for ordinary Nigerians.

She wrote: “What is with this constancy of disastrous Monetary Policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)? How did an institution that should model respect for Economic Evidence in Policymaking become experts of agent of suffering in this country?

“You know that a policy entity has completely lost the plot when all sound evidence based tools are abandoned in preference for policy guidelines with high administrative cost of enforcement and a nightmare for innocent people. Punishing the innocent for the sins of the guilty?”

By Ambali Abdulkabeer

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