Bank Operators Meet Lawmakers, Counter CBN on New Naira Notes, give reasons for scarcity
- The Central Bank of Nigeria recently accused commercial banks of hoarding the new naira notes
- Bank operators have come out to counter CBN claims giving the reason for the scarcity of the new notes
- Nigerians are expected to deposit their old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes in two days' time and lawmakers are pushing to extend the deadline
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Commercial banks responded to the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) comments about the availability of new Naira notes on Friday, 27 January 2023.
The CBN had blamed the banks for hoarding the new naira notes, but with operators of the banks testifying before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing the paucity of the new notes, they defended that it is not their fault.
The Punch reports that the apex bank is expected to announce the withdrawal of the old notes from circulation.
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Access Bank
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Hadiza Ambursa, an official of Access Bank who represented the bank’s managing director in the meeting with lawmakers, said they only got 10 percent of the money deposited with the CBN.
She said:
“We are not getting the money as quickly as we want them. We only get 10 percent of the money deposited. We are paying and collecting money. We are also loading our ATM.”
Sterling bank speaks
Jimoh Garuba, the representative of Sterling Bank, said the bank receive allocation weekly from CBN but had no have sufficient fund to meet its customers’ demand.
Garuba said:
“As we speak, our Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is dispensing what we received which fluctuate most time."
He said his bank received a minimum of N150 million from the CBN weekly to be shared among its branches in Abuja.
He added that the bank received N150 million weekly in Kaduna which is shared among its branches across the 36 states of federation.
the Sterling Bank official added.
”We received N100 million weekly and we can only dispense through ATM and not through the counter.
“If we are to go through the counter to dispense the money, the allocation will go in less down 10 minutes."
He said the percentage of money received from the CBN varies on weekly basis, adding that it receives 80 percent of what it deposited in Abuja and less than 10 percent in Kano.
Garuba blamed the shortage of the new Naira notes in circulation on the CBN cashless policy.
UBA speaks
Arerepade Akagwe, the representative of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), said the bank had taken 70 percent of the old money it deposited with the CBN.
The Chairman of the committee, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, said the bank appearance before the committee was not a witch hunt but a fact-finding exercise.
Lawmakers threatened to arrest Emefiele, Bank CEOs
Meanwhile, lawmakers have threatened to arrest Godwin Emefiele CBN governor and bank CEOs.
The threat of arrest comes after the apex bank refused its request to extend the deadline for the deposit of the old notes by six months and also the failure of Emefiele to appear before the house.
For bank CEOs who failed to appear before the house, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila warned of arrests, Thisday reports.
Old notes: ATMs and other ways to swap your notes before January 31
Recall that Nigerian banks recently cried out over the shortage of new naira notes despite the CBN saying it has a surplus of it in its vaults.
The CBN, during sensitisation outings across the nation, urged the banks to come for the new notes ahead of its January 31, 2023 deadline.
The apex bank also vowed to penalise banks that continue to issue old naira notes or dispense the same through their Automated Machines.
Source: Legit.ng
