In an obvious move to reposition Nigeria’s national currency, the Naira, for effective performance and control of the amount of cash in circulation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced new cash withdrawal limits for banks and other financial institutions. The new policy comes on the heels of its recent currency redesign project, in which it expresses concerns about immense amounts of cash outside the banking system.
The directive on the new cash withdrawal limits was contained in the CBN letter dated December 6, 2022, which was addressed to all Deposit Money Banks, and other financial institutions like Payment Service Banks (PSBs), Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs). The letter was formally endorsed by Mr Haruna Mustafa, Director, Banking Supervision Department, CBN.
Under the new regulations, the Central Bank capped weekly over-the-counter (OTC) cash withdrawals by individuals and business organisations to N100,000 and N500,000, respectively. However, the apex bank states that withdrawals above the threshold will be charged a processing fee of 5% for individuals and 10% for corporate bodies. Also, third-party checks over N50,000 are not eligible for OTC payments, while the existing limit for cleared checks remains at N10 million.
The new cash withdrawal regime further limits maximum cash withdrawals via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to N100,000 per week and N20,000 per day. According to the CBN, ATMs can only load denominations of N200 and below, while the maximum amount that can be withdrawn via point-of-sale (POS) terminals is limited to N20,000 per day.
However, the Central Bank declares that in cases of last resort, not more than once a month, if cash withdrawals exceeding the prescribed limit are required for legitimate purposes, the withdrawal amount of individuals and corporate organisations shall not exceed N5 million and N10 million respectively, and shall comply with the referenced processing fee. This would be in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements.
Furthermore, the CBN says that monthly re-runs of cash withdrawal transactions exceeding the prescribed limit should be referred to the banking supervisory authority. While needing to comply with existing Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism regulations related to Know Your Customer (KYC), ongoing customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting, among others, are required in all circumstances.
Moreover, the Central Bank encourages bank customers to use alternative channels including Internet Banking, Mobile Banking Apps, USSD, Card/POS, eNaira, etc., for banking transactions. The CBN also warned banks and other financial institutions that aiding and abetting circumvention of the new policy would attract severe sanctions.
Current moves by the CBN point to an effort to curb vote-buying ahead of the 2023 general elections, check and diminish the amount of cash in circulation. It is also aimed at containing the ease by which the Nigerian currency has been counterfeited by criminal gangs. Most significantly, these policies would help the apex bank regain control of excess cash floating in the economy, thereby upscaling the value of the Naira and curbing inflation.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, had revealed in last October that out of N3.23 trillion Naira in circulation, N2.73 trillion was lying outside Nigeria’s banking system. This figure, which represents about 85%, is what the CBN is trying to mop up back into the system to be able to control the money supply. We commend the bank for the initiative, which is quite positive. Many Nigerians will benefit from the new policy.
The government and banks would equally gain from the practice in the sense that it would reduce the cost of holding large amounts of cash, and capture more e-transactions and e-revenue for the institutions. Crimes like armed robbery, burglary, and kidnapping for ransom will drop because it will be difficult to raise the huge amount of money the criminals usually demand from the banking system.
Drastically reducing cash in circulation will likewise compel more transactions to be conducted electronically. There would be less currency outside the banking system, which will make monetary policy interventions more effective. This would reduce the size of the black economy and provide more intelligence for the tax authorities to expand the tax net to economic activities which were previously under the radar. Additionally, the volume of Naira to be printed every year will reduce significantly.
Apparently, the CBN is trying to drive a cashless economy by placing stiffer restrictions on cash withdrawals. However, a more effective strategy could have been to first enhance the cashless economy infrastructure to remove or significantly reduce the challenges and irritations that people experience when transacting using electronic payments. Many Nigerians regularly experience unsuccessful electronic payment transactions either due to bad network, switch failure or even lack of electricity to charge the devices.
A different strategy could have been employed to make a cashless economy attractive as was the case with Mesa in East Africa, so people voluntarily embrace it rather than the stick approach, which will, unfortunately, punish many people for circumstances that are beyond their control, especially the large unbanked population in rural areas. If not properly handled, the situation could result in a lull in economic activities, which may slow down GDP growth in the short to medium term.
Though there will undoubtedly be implementation challenges, the policy is a step in the right direction for sanitising the economy. The excess liquidity floating around in the economy needs to be mopped to minimise price escalation. However, the slow adoption of e-banking, the rise in cybercrime coupled with an election year, and other macroeconomic factors could dramatically slow the benefits of the policy.