Speaking during a meeting with CBN officials on the new cash policy, Chairman Senate Committee on Banking, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu (PDP, Abia) said the committee supports the policy but that the CBN must ensure adequate awareness before its take off.
Explaining the new cash policy to the committee, CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido said the daily limit cash withdrawal of N150,000 for individuals and N1 million for corporate bodies is to ensure that the burden of cash transactions is placed on those responsible for huge cash transactions.
He said “45 percent of total cash transaction that were done in Nigeria was in the region of zero to N10, 000 and 90 percent of daily cash transaction were less than N100, 000. Only 10 percent of the number of the transaction that are done in the banking sector are of N100, 000 and above. The 10 percent of N100, 000 and above accounts for 75 percent of the total value of cash; so what is happening is that the 90 percent poor Nigerians who do not withdraw more than N100, 000 a day are subsidizing the 10 percent rich ones.
“And what we said is that this is not fair. Those that do heavy cash transaction, they should pay for it; if you do more than N150, 000 you pay a fine. We did not say you cannot withdraw more than N150, 000. If you do, you pay a fine so that you are not subsidized by the poor Nigerians.”
Sanusi said the apex bank findings indicated that huge cash transactions was responsible for the heavy cost of banking operations which is transferred to the customers in terms of high lending rate.
He said main objective of the new policy is to evolve a cashless society saying “by the first quarter of next year, Lagos would be almost a cashless society. CBN plans to use the state as a satellite centre for the planned cashless society.”
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