The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked Nigerians to
embrace eNaira and internet banking as alternatives to cash transactions.
Speaking at the recently concluded 44th Kaduna International
Trade Fair, Osita Nwanisobi, director of corporate communications, CBN, said
the Nigerian payment system infrastructure could handle the surge in
transaction volumes across all payment channels.
The CBN director spoke against the backdrop of the struggle
faced by citizens to get naira notes from banking halls and automated teller
machines (ATMs) following the implementation of the naira redesign policy.
Nwasinobi was represented at the event by Mohammed Abbah,
director, capacity development department of CBN.
On the naira redesign policy, he said the initiative was not
aimed at any individual as being insinuated in the public domain.
“The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has always said that
the policy is not targeted at anyone or any group of persons, rather, it is
derived from the bank’s in-house analysis to strengthen our macroeconomic
fundamentals and better our socio-economic conditions,” Nwanisobi said.
“The principal aim of the bank, with the currency redesign
initiative, is to make our monetary policy decisions more efficacious.
“Nigerians will
observe that there has been a downward trend in inflation, and the exchange
rates have been relatively stable.
“Furthermore, we aim to increase financial inclusion in the
country by reducing the number of the unbanked population.
“Thirdly, our aim is to support the efforts of our security
agencies in combating banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria through this programme.”
The CBN director said the apex bank was aware of the
challenges some citizens have had to face in the past few weeks in efforts to
get money from their banks.
He said that there have been reports of occasional
transaction failures on alternative payment channels.
“However, we wish to assure you that the Nigerian payment
system infrastructure is robust enough to handle the surging transaction
volumes across all channels,” Nwanisobi said.
“We, therefore, urge Nigerians to embrace alternative
payment channels, such as e-Naira and internet banking, as we embrace the
cashless policy.”
Nwanisobi said the apex bank, in line with its developmental
function as stipulated in the CBN Act, 2007 (as amended), has been at the
vanguard of promoting quality export through its produce, add value and export
(PAVE) concept.
He said PAVE was similar to the export-led industrialisation
policy of south-east Asia, which elevated the economic fortunes of the Asian
Tigers: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Through PAVE, he said the CBN sought to create a proper
linkage between agriculture and the manufacturing sectors of the Nigerian
economy while also providing a cushion against the volatility in crude oil
production and export.
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