The rise in electronic banking transactions has prompted the Central Bank of Nigeria -CBN, to reduce the minting of the Naira. Dr. Kingsley Obiora, the CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, revealed this information over the weekend in Abuja.
According to the Director Governor, several major economies of the world have begun decreasing the use of cash as a means of business transaction.
He additionally noted that in South Korea, about 77% of the citizens forgo the use of cash to make payments, while 30% of the population in the Philippines don’t use cash at all to make payments.
Obiora admitted that in Nigeria, the significant decrease in the use of cash as a medium of exchange has resulted in an explosion in electronic businesses. He also said that the value of e-business/commerce had grown from N393bn in 2014 to about N2.4trn currently.
In the Director General’s words: “In South Korea, 77 per cents no longer use cash to make payments, while in the Philippines, it is 30 percent. In Nigeria too, we are also seeing the same decline in the use of cash; the minting of currencies in the CBN has been reducing in the last couple of years.
“So, alongside this reduction in the use of cash has also been an explosion in electronic business and e-business and we have seen the value of e-business grow from N393bn in 2014 to about N2.4trn now.
“And so, if you look at this movement, you will realize that the central banks in the world are responding to the yearnings of citizens which is why citizens in 96 percent of Central banks in the world are either working on digital currencies or they have done so already.”
Emefiele, CBN Governor
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