December 08, (THEWILL) – The Senate, will on Tuesday, December 13, debate a motion on the new cash withdrawal limit recently announced by the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN).
THEWILL reported that the apex bank, in a memo on Tuesday, announced a limit on cash withdrawals made by individuals and organisations with effect from 9 January.
According to the apex bank, an over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities will not exceed N100,000 and N500,000 per week respectively. It also directed that only N200 and lower denominations be loaded into banks’ ATMs.
It said the maximum cash withdrawal per week via ATM should be N100,000, subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.
Raising a point of order on the issue on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader, Philip Aduda, expressed concerns over the new policy with fears that many Nigerians will be affected negatively.
Aduda, who called for caution on the cash withdrawal limit, said it would affect the country’s economy.
He said, “Our commerce, I think, is not ready for this and our economy cannot take this shock. There is a need for us to speak about it because people are suffering and it is a very serious issue.”
Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP, Benue), also urged the Senate to debate the policy immediately for the sake of Nigerians, whom, he said, were extremely worried.
“My phone was inundated by calls from constituents, who are outside the former sector. People are extremely worried. You should have allowed us to discuss this issue for the sake of Nigerians”, he said.
Responding, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, directed the committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, in charge of screening the newly nominated deputy governors for the apex bank, to grill the nominees on the policy.
He said, “At the moment, I will advise that these two deputy governors, who have been in the CBN for the past four years be thoroughly grilled on the policy, they are part of this system, they are not new people.
“This should be part of the major issues to be raised when they appear for screening. I want us to be properly informed and guided. Most of us, if not all of us have not had an engagement with that institution.
“My personal opinion is, if we want to be a cashless society, we should take time to be cashless society and not to jump on it at once. Most Nigerians will be out of business.
“But we need to take the opportunity of the screening to be better informed on the policy.”
About the Author
