The upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, Senate on Wednesday, expressed concerns over the latest Central Bank Nigeria’s (CBN) policy on cash withdrawals limit.
MSME Africa had earlier reported that the CBN issued a directive to banks on Tuesday imposing a weekly limit of N100,000 and N500,000 withdrawals on individuals and organisations respectively.
The memo limits cash withdrawals via point-of-sale machines and automated teller machines to N20,000 daily and N100,000 weekly, respectively.
The memo signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna B. Mustafa, CBN has also directed commercial banks to load only N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs.
According to the statement, the policy according to the memo will take effect from January 9, 2023.
However, the Senate after frantic back and forth amongst members of the house, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Senate Minority Leader Phillip Aduda (PDP FCT) and Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP Benue North-East) has now set next tuesday to debate the new CBN policy.
Aduda, who raised the issue during the plenary on Wednesday, noted that the policy would affect many Nigerians, particularly small business owners.
Lawan also called for caution, adding that the Senate will engage with the apex bank to get more details about the policy.
