Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido, has been summoned to appear before federal lawmakers on Thursday over the CBN's controversial policy proposing a daily limit of N150, 000 cash withdrawal from banks with effect from June next year.
Mr Sanusi is scheduled to appear before the House of Representatives following summons issued yesterday as lawmakers debate the contentious guideline months after it was first announced by the CBN.
The new policy pegs daily cash withdrawals from banks at N150, 000 for individuals and N1 million for corporate bodies, in a measure the regulatory bank hopes will create a "cashless economy" to help reduce cash management cost.
The proposal has aroused criticism since becoming public, with leaders of communities in the Niger Delta asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the move unconstitutional.
Mr Sanusi earlier appeared before the Senate Banking committee in May where he was asked to extend the implementation date for the plan and raise the ceiling to N250, 000.
The House of Representatives approved a long-standing resolution on the subject Tuesday, summoning the CBN governor for "more information" before deciding whether to back calls for raised limits, extension of the effective date or outright rejection of the policy.
"We need more information so as to make an informed decision on the issues," said the speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.
Mr Sanusi will also seize the opportunity to speak on the planned non-interest banking (Islamic banking) - a similarly heated subject which the lawmakers took care to mention only as a sub-amendment to the main motion yesterday.
Need for information
At her confirmation for ministerial role, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had told senators a fortnight ago that while she finds nothing wrong with non-interest banking as planned by the CBN, caution needs to be applied with the cashless economy policy.
Members of the House of Representatives questioned the plan yesterday after rescheduling the resolution for weeks, arguing that the move may negatively affect rural businesses and farmers where there are no commercial banks and Automated Teller Machines (ATM).
"This policy will affect our local farmers and traders who do not have banks in their localities and therefore not practicable during market days," said Aliyu Yakubu, who initiated the motion.
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