The Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that over 80% of the nation’s currency in circulation is outside the vaults of commercial banks.
The apex bank decried significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, saying the challenges of currency management have continued to pose threats for Nigeria.
The Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele made the revelations at the (CBN) Governor’s Cup annual golf competition in Abuja, saying although currency management remains the key function of the central bank as enshrined in section 2B of the CBN Act, 2007 as amended, Nigeria continues to face many challenges with attendant consequences for the bank.
Emefiele said the challenges manifest in the significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, worsening the shortage of clean banknotes in circulation, the high cost of cash management as well as increased risk and ease of counterfeiting.
”There are statistics showing that over 80% of the currency in circulation is outside the vaults of commercial banks.
”The integrity of a local legal tender, the efficiency of its supply as well as its efficacy in the conduct of monetary policy are some of the hallmarks of a great Central Bank”.
” We believe that redesigning the N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes, will certainly reduce the cost of cash management, reduce the volume of cash in circulation, disrupt counterfeiting activities and enhance the adoption of digital and electronic transactions.
”The CBN remains committed to people-oriented and people-centred policies, which impacts were felt in various sectors of the economy”, Emefiele said.
Over 80% of Nigerian naira in circulation outside banks’ vaults – CBN