Cashless policy: Reps Cttee submits report, to monitor CBN cash

…ask CBN to restore over-the-counter transaction to the old limit before the new policy takes effect

The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on cashless policy on Tuesday submitted its report and recommended that cash releases by the CBN would be monitored on a weekly basis.

TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports this came to fore after the adhoc committee led by the House Leader , Alhassan Ado- Doguwa interfaced with the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele on same day(Tuesday) before finally submitting its report.

Alhassan Ado-Doguwa while submitting its Ad-HocCommittee report stated that the Committee finally got to meet with the Central Bank governor and had earlier also met with heads of commercial banks.

” The Committee in analyzing information from all quarters found out that the new notes are scarce in commercial banks.

“The Central Bank governor agreed with the position of the House that the old notes can be redeemed by banks at any time of presentation.

The recommendations of the Ad-Hoc Committee include that:

I. The Ad-Hoc Committee will continue to work with the Central Bank and commercial banks to ensure the cashless policy and cash-swap policy will not affect Nigerians adversely and that the CBN will submit a weekly report to the Ad-Hoc Committee on currency releases to commercial banks.

II. CBN should operationalize the provisions of Section 20 (3) of the CBN Act to the effect that the currency gets redeemed after the deadline.

III. The CBN is to ensure the availability and issuance of new notes to Nigerians

IV. That the ad Hoc Committee continue to work considering that the House is going on break while the issue at stake requires further attention of the Special Committee.

V. Restore the over-the-counter transaction to the old limit before the new policy was introduced.

Commendation by Speaker:

The Speaker of the House, Rep. Gbajabiamila commended the Ad-Hoc Committee for its dedication and diligence while commending the Honorable members for the sacrifice to see the matter resolved in the interest of Nigerians.

He expressed hope that the suffering facing Nigerians over accessing the new notes will begin to abate following the CBN governor’s assurances and that the supply of the new notes will improve drastically. Rep. Gbajabiamila berated banks that hoard the new currencies and supply in bulk to influential customers at the detriment of other Nigerians. He also called on the CBN to make the new notes more available to Nigerians across the country, both in rural and urban areas of the nation.

The Speaker also called on stakeholders in all arms of government to work together for the good governance of the nation and Nigerians.