• CBN: Embrace eNaira, internet banking as alternatives to cash
• Apex bank loses N15b to hoarding, explains how to exchange old notes
• BDCs profit from naira scarcity, lower exchange rate for cash transaction
• Ikpeazu worried about cash scarcity on traders in Abia, Commissioner says
• Niger governor orders police to arrest anyone rejecting old notes
As the nation awaits the decision of the Supreme Court tomorrow over the naira redesign policy, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, met with Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The CBN governor, who was meeting the President privately for the third time since the naira crisis escalated across the country, did not speak to journalists as he left the Villa.
Also, the reason for the visit was not made known as at the time of filing this report. It was, however, believed to be in connection with finding solution to the cash squeeze experienced across the country.
The raging controversy over implementation of the new currency redesign policy has not subsided.
Last Friday, the Council of State had backed the currency redesign policy, but advised CBN to ensure availability of naira notes to douse tension and ameliorate the suffering of citizens across the country.
On Sunday, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) directed Attorney-Generals of the 36 states to join the suit instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court.
However, CBN has asked Nigerians to embrace eNaira and internet banking as alternatives to cash transactions. Speaking at the just concluded 44th Kaduna International Trade Fair, Osita Nwanisobi, director of corporate communications, CBN, said the Nigerian payment system infrastructure could handle the surge in transaction volumes across all payment channels.
The CBN director spoke against the backdrop of the struggle faced by citizens to get naira notes from banking halls and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Nwasinobi was represented at the event by Mohammed Abbah, director, capacity development department of CBN.
On the naira redesign policy, he said the initiative was not aimed at any individual as being insinuated in the public domain.
“The CBN Governor has always said the policy is not targeted at anyone or any group of persons, rather, it is derived from the bank’s in-house analysis to strengthen our macroeconomic fundamentals and better our socio-economic conditions,” Nwanisobi said.
“Nigerians will observe that there has been a downward trend in inflation, and the exchange rates have been relatively stable. Furthermore, we aim to increase financial inclusion in the country by reducing the number of the unbanked population.
“Thirdly, our aim is to support the efforts of our security agencies in combating banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria through this programme.”
He said that there have been reports of occasional transaction failures on alternative payment channels.
“However, we wish to assure you that the Nigerian payment system infrastructure is robust enough to handle the surging transaction volumes across all channels,” Nwanisobi said.
“We, therefore, urge Nigerians to embrace alternative payment channels, such as e-Naira and internet banking, as we embrace the cashless policy.”
Foreign currency traders are profiting from the naira scarcity. For instance, while the dollar trades for about N740 at the black market, dealers with access to new banknotes buy the greenback from Nigerians desperate to be paid in cash at between N500 and N600.
In Abuja, yesterday, The Guardian learnt that some Bureau de Change (BDC) operators were offering as little as N400/$ to customers who insist on cash settlement. This reflects a rising trend in the country.
Merchants and traders are tending towards price discrimination – offering lower prices to cash-backed customers while those who opt for transfer are asked to pay higher.
In some cases, traders simply add the point of sale (PoS) charges, which could be 30 per cent markup, as margins.
The CBN lost N15 billion to hoarding of naira notes in private homes and outside of the banking system, a deputy governor of the apex bank, Folashodun Shonubi, has said.
He disclosed this, in Abuja, while delivering a lecture at the 22nd Fellow conferment lecture of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), just as he justified the naira redesign policy, saying hoarded or stored cash does not add to economic activity but rather hurts the economy.
Speaking on the intricacies of the naira redesign and its benefit to the country, Shonubi sad Nigeria ranks number 30 in deposit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Africa.
He hinted that while statistics show that over the last five years, the number of banknotes worldwide in circulation rose from five to seven per cent each year, the CBN prints more, yet Nigeria has fewer new notes circulating.
Shonubi also cautioned that the longer currencies are in circulation, the easier it is for counterfeiters to perfect their game.
“The reason currencies are changed periodically is to avoid counterfeiting. The higher denominations are specially exposed to counterfeiting because it takes the same effort to counterfeit N200 and N1,000. So, why would a counterfeiter waste his time on counterfeiting N200 notes when he can get N1,000 notes from exerting the same energy? This is one of the reasons redesigning is very important,” he stated
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