The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has joined a long list of stakeholders who have picked a hole in the introduction of the cash withdrawal limits by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Africa Today News, New York recalls that the apex bank a month ago came out to announce a policy of restricting individual cash withdrawals from commercial banks to N20,000 per day and N100,000 for a week or N500,000 in the case of corporate bodies.
But reacting to the development, the body’s Secretary General, Murtala Aliyu, ACF warned that the insistence of the CBN on implementing the wholly unrealistic policy will lead to a catastrophic collapse of the informal sector of the economy.
In a statement on Friday, he said this is considering the fact that transactions in commodity markets particularly in the rural areas are entirely cash-based.
Read Also: CBN Limits Cash Withdrawals To ₦20,000 Daily, ₦100,000 Weekly
The group also noted that Nigeria has the lowest financial penetration in Africa whereby over 38 million adults do not have access to banking services with ‘women, rural dwellers, Micro-Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Northern Nigeria’ being among the most disproportionately excluded.
It, however, asked the CBN to allow a level playing field for a wide range of finance providers and encourage partnerships between them. Furthermore, ACF asked CBN to enforce strict regulations that protect people’s money, and inform, inspire and prepare the public adequately for the transition.
The group insisted that, however well-intentioned, a preemptive move or a ‘frog-jump’ into a cashless payments system will only land the country into a bottomless pit until the CBN addresses the challenges substantially.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the apex Bank had yesterday began the circulation of the newly designed currency notes. Many banks have however run out of the notes.