The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday, said it has not foreclosed a possible adjustment to the cash withdrawal limit, noting however that the January 9 take-off date for the policy remains sacrosanct.
Its Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who dropped the hint Thursday, said the plan, which he described as the continuation of the apex bank’s monetary policy direction, has the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The apex bank recently unveiled a revised cash withdrawal limit with a maximum of N100,000 cash withdrawal per week for individuals and N500,000 cash per week for companies.
The limits also affect other payment channels, including Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (PoS) and cheque-based transactions.
The maximum cash withdrawal through ATM is set at N100,000 per week, subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.
The maximum cash withdrawal through the PoS terminal shall be N20,000 per day. Only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs.
Emefiele spoke to State House Correspondents in Daura, Katsina State, after a meeting with President Buhari.
He explained that the policy is not new, adding that the fears being expressed of excluding rural people are needless.
According to him, many financial platforms that will make the operation of the policy painless have found their way to remote places in the country.
He also said the policy is not targeted at any particular person, but aimed at developing the economy.
Emefiele spoke against the background of growing opposition to the policy, with the National Assembly calling for a review.
Many stakeholders have said the new policy would make life difficult for Nigerians and can negatively affect businesses.