The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has attributed the scarcity of the new naira to the hoarding of the notes by Nigerians.
Rashidat Mongunu, the CBN’s director of consumer protection, said this on Thursday, February 9, 2023, while monitoring microfinance banks in Offa, Offa Local Government Area of Kwara.
The monitoring team, as reported by NAN, first paid homage to the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi, before heading to Stockcorp Microfinance and Ibolo Microfinance banks.
The CBN director asserted that the redesigned notes were made available in the right quantity by the CBN, but those hoarding the notes are to blame for currency scarcity which is further worsened by the sheer number of people thronging banks to collect money almost at the same time.
“Because of the attitude of some Nigerians in hoarding the money, even those that don’t really need the money are rushing to get it and keep it, not to spend,” she said.
Speaking on the currency management cycle, she affirmed: “We have not allowed the cycle to mature, because when you issue out currency as CBN, what we expect is that the naira issued out will come back into the banking system again. But now, everybody collecting the naira is hoarding it. So, no matter how much naira we put out there, if we continue with this attitude, and the CBN [continues to] issue from now till December, it will still not be enough.”
Monguno added: “In every economy, you must have proper accountability. You just don’t issue Naira for the fun of it, you issue the amount that is commensurate with the level of activity you have in that country.”
‘It’s illegal to reject old naira before January 31’ – CBN Cautions As Churches, Business Stop Collection
The Zamfara State branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has said rejecting the old Naira notes before the deadline given by the apex bank is illegal and punishable by law.
The CBN, therefore, directed the police to arrest those who refuse to collect the old notes, pointing out that they are still legal tender until after the 31st January 2023 deadline.
Daily Post gathered that the apex bank has officially directed five of the commercial banks in the state to, as a matter of urgency, release new notes, threatening to sanction them if they failed to adhere to the directive.
Commenting on the scarcity of new notes during a sensitization workshop organised by the Association of Point of Sales, POS, operators in the state held on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at Maryam Hall in Gusau, the controller of CBN in the state, Mallam Buhari Abbas, gave reasons why the apex bank introduced the new notes.
Abbas, therefore, urged operators of POS to consider and assist in opening a new bank account for anyone who wants to deposit money and has no account.
“You should do selfless service by not allowing people to lose their money because they don’t have accounts, assist, help those who want to deposit their money”, he added.
According to him, the CBN had introduced new notes to reduce notes being in circulation in the hand of the public.
“More than 80% of Naira notes were in the hands of people, and the CBN has studied this and decided to introduce the policy to reduce the notes at hand, and the policy will harmonize the interest rate,” he said.
He noted that introducing the new CBN policy was to bring more development to the country, saying that the policy, if properly utilized, would boost businesses.
CBN Issues Statement Affirming Emefiele Will Keep Performing Duties As Directed By Buhari
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has announced the resumption of its governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The governor flew out of the country late last year amid reports that the Department of State Services, DSS, was plotting to arrest him for allegedly sponsoring terrorism.
The apex bank, in a statement on Monday, January 16, 2023, said the governor was back with renewed vigour.
“The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has resumed duty after his annual vacation abroad. Mr. Emefiele, who proceeded on leave in December 2022, resumed work today, Monday, January 16, 2023.”
“The Governor resumed with renewed vigour to perform his duty ahead of the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the year scheduled for January 23 to 24, 2023.
“Mr. Emefiele remains committed to performing the task before him in line with his oath of office and the policy direction of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“While thanking the public for keeping faith with the Bank, we urge Nigerians to continue to support the policies of the Bank aimed at ensuring a stable financial system and the Nigerian economy in general,” read the statement signed by Osita Nwanisobi, Director, Corporate Communications, CBN.
After failing to appear before the House of Representatives which summoned him over some policies of the bank, CBN had announced that the governor was out of the country.
Emefiele had returned to the country on Monday, and hours after his return, news started circulating that DSS had invaded the bank, seeking to arrest him, but the secret police denied this.
A Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court sitting in Maitama had restrained the DSS from arresting the CBN governor.
The restraining order was issued by M.A. Hassan, the presiding judge.
