A Washington Post report titled, ‘Why Nigeria Is Clamping Down on Its Vast Cash Economy?’ which was published on the morning of Thursday, 15 December has explained how the country’s Central Bank policy on cash withdrawal limits may stall Nigerian economic growth.
Remember the apex bank had imposed a weekly limit of N100,000 and N500,000 withdrawals on individuals and organizations, beginning from January 9, 2023.
The monetary policy, according to the US media organization, had a high likelihood of repeating what happened in India in 2016, and the policy’s implementation will be difficult owing to the country’s high rate of informal transactions.
The report continued with: “The central bank is changing the colors of the currency 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes and the new bills will go into circulation from Dec. 15. The hope is that when people drop off their old notes, a lot of individuals will choose that moment to switch to making electronic payments through a bank account for their day-to-day finances.”