Emefiele Meets President Buhari, Hinted on Revisiting Naira Withdrawal Limit

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated yesterday that the apex bank would consider reviewing the new weekly cash withdrawal limits of N100,000 and N500,000 for individuals and corporate bank customers, while also clarifying that the new policy which will take effect from January 2023 is not targetted at any individual. 

Investors King had earlier reported that the House of Representatives has invited the CBN governor to brief the house about the new policy. 

During the plenary session yesterday, several lawmakers positioned that the new withdrawal policy is capable to hurt the economy, especially some Nigerians who still rely on cash transactions. 

Similarly, the Association of Mobile Money Operators of Nigerians argued that the policy is capable to get them out of business.

While speaking to journalists after a close-door meeting with President Buhari, Emefiele assured that the apex bank would not be rigid on the policy as it was not meant to hurt anybody but to strengthen the nation’s economy.

In addition, the CBN governor added that more than N1 trillion worth of old notes had been deposited to various commercial banks across the county by bank customers while adding that the CBN has distributed the new N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to banks for disbursement to their customers, ahead of the December 15, earlier scheduled for circulation of the new notes. 

It could be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed that naira redesign will help to address some prevailing fiscal issues which include excessive circulation of naira notes, counterfeiting, and terrorism. 

Emefiele explained that countries that have embraced digitization have gone cashless. He revealed that the president was happy with the policy 

“President Buhari was happy and said, we should carry on with our work, no need to fear, no need to bother about anybody,” he said. 

He said that the new policy of the apex bank was for the good and development of the Nigerian economy, adding, “We can only continue to appeal to Nigerians to please see this policy the way we have presented it”.