From Joseph Obukata, Warri
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Friday, said
the cashless policy by the apex bank is for the benefits of Nigerians insisting that there will be no going back on the January 31deadline.
The CBN Governor who was represented by Mr Sunny Daibo, the leader of the surveillance of the apex bank, spoke in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State during CBN’s “cash swap exercise” to satisfied petty traders who may not be able to deposit their old Naira notes with the commercial banks.
Daibo who is also the CBN Deputy Director of Finance said that the essence of the exercise was also to encourage those without bank account to open one.
The team leader who expressed displeasure over the attitude of the people embracing the cashless policy of the federal government said that there would be no extension of the deadline on the deposition of the old Naira notes.
“As at today, no going back on the Jan. 31 deadline. Take your money to the bank and do your transaction online.
“Nigerians always wait till the last minute. This thing has been on since November. CBN says go and deposit your money in the bank. Some people will like to wait till the last minute,” he said.
Daibo said that the cashless policy would helped in the efficient monetary policy management and by implications growth of the economy.
According to him, other benefits of the policy included: eliminating corruption; reduced counterfeiting; reduced criminalities, discouraged stocking money at home and among others.
“There are so many advantages to the cashless policy, gradually, we will get there.
“The policy is for the benefits of Nigerians. The cost of managing currency is enormous.
“We cannot continue to do things in the old ways and expect different results. We must do something in the new ways. With this policy every Nigerian can now open bank account easily,” he said.
Daibo said that there was also a misconception that when a customer deposits certain amount of old Naira notes, the person is expected to withdrew same amount in the new redesigned notes.
“If you deposit the old notes, the new cash withdrawal policy will be applied which is N500,000 weekly for individual and N5 million for corporate bodies.
“The people are complaining that they are not seeing the new Naira notes,” he said.
Daibo said that the sensitisation team would visit Warri South and Warri South-West on Saturday in continuation of the awareness campaign.
The team would also visit churches on Sunday to enlighten worshippers on the essence of the cashless policy.
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