Reliable sources at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have said lenders have been instructed to collect the old naira notes they deposited with the apex bank.
By extension this means that before the end of the week the naira drought should be over and the country would be awash with notes.
Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday apologised to Nigerians for the rise in failed electronic banking transactions.
He spoke at the end of the two-day monetary policy committee meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
Since the implementation of the naira redesign policy and subsequent cash shortage, Nigerians have had a terrible time experiencing successful banking transactions made through their mobile apps, USSD platforms and debit cards.
Speaking on the matter, Emefiele said the apex’s bank payments system management department made efforts to ensure that downtime on electronic banking channels were quickly resolved.
“I must apologise. Yes, online channels fail. But no doubt it is as a result of the deluge of online transactions that hit the banking industry. But it is being resolved,” Emefiele said.
“On a daily basis, our payments system management department monitor the online payment platforms so as to make sure that when there is a downtime, they are quickly resolved so that transactions can go on smoothly.”
He also praised fintechs for facilitating smooth transactions for Nigerians by reducing the strain on traditional banks.
On money supply, Emefiele said the implementation of the naira redesign policy has resulted in the reduction in currency outside the banks.
“At the beginning of the naira redesign policy we said that there was about N3.23 trillion in circulation out of which only N500 billion was held in the banking system, while N2.73 trillion was outside the banks,” the CBN governor said.
“It was published yesterday that currency in circulation is close to N1 trillion. CBN will continue to pump the newly redesigned currency into the market.
“The truth is that at some point we will need to reassess to know whether the currency in circulation has attained an optimal level so as to put in place measures to ensure that we don’t go to the level where we were when people kept money outside the banking system for their own benefits”.
