The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele has said that the apex bank will henceforth take cashless policy seriously, noting that people will fill countless forms and provide their data before they can withdraw large amounts.
He said this while briefing the press after the launch the new Naira banknotes in Abuja on Wednesday.
Emefiele during the breifing stated that the amount of money that can be withdrawn from the counter would be reduced drastically, adding that bulk withdrawals would require several procedures and security checks to track use.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
He further noted that this would ensure a steady transition into a cashless economy.
“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.”
The CBN Governor further argued that the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes was not targeted at any individual or group of people in the country.
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 programmes to see that the currencies are designed or reissued every five to eight years.
“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 to redesign and reissue currency started early in the year.”
Emefiele also warned Nigerians against holding of the old notes, saying there was no going back on the January 31st 2023 deadline to completely render the old notes useless.
