Senate Asks CBN To Increase Cash Withdrawal Limits 

Kalu proposed setting a daily cash withdrawal cap of N500,000 for private persons and N3,000,000 for corporate entities.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The Senate requested that the Central Bank of Nigeria raise the cash withdrawal caps on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.

The apex bank recently set a weekly limit of N100,000 for personal withdrawals and N500,000 for corporate withdrawals under its new monetary policy.

The policy, which is scheduled to go into effect on Monday, January 9, 2023, caused a public uproar, and the National Assembly called Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to explain it in their chambers.

The Committee on Banking and CBN Chiefs met on Wednesday to discuss the policy, and following that discussion, the legislators urged the bank to modify the withdrawal limitations that were previously stated in the policy.

Daily Trust reports that the Senate also gave the committee instructions to aggressively monitor the CBN’s compliance with its pledge to flexible modification of the withdrawal limit and to report progress to the chamber on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, the legislators’ opinions on the CBN policy throughout the discussion varied.

Many of them contended that the policy would have an impact on the rural economy and that imposing it on the populace would lead to the emergence of a black market for cash.

Given the present national average cost of living, Senator Ajibola Basiru (APC, Osun), one of the MPs who criticized the program, called it impossible.

The Chair of the Committee on Banking, Senator Uba Sani (APC, Kaduna), asserted that the cashless policy was compliant with the CBN Act.

He continued by saying that the goal of the withdrawal restrictions policy was to promote a reliable, trustworthy, and effective payment system.

“It’s neither targeted at any segment of the society nor intended to disenfranchise hardworking Nigerians and businesses as insinuated in some quarters,” he said.

Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia), a senator, demanded an increase in the withdrawal caps.

He recommended setting a daily cash withdrawal cap of N500,000 for private persons and N3,000,000 for business entities.