Cash Withdrawal Limits: Concerns Over Scarcity of Newly Designed Notes

The CBN Cash withdrawal limits becomes effective today, however there are growing concerns over the slow spread and quality of three newly redesigned naira notes.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directives to Deposit Money Banks (DMOs) and other financial institutions on December 6, 2022 to ensure that weekly over-the –counter (OTC) cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities do not exceed N100,000 and N500,000, respectively, takes effect today.

The directives also pegged maximum daily withdrawals via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point Of Sale (PoS) terminals at N20,000 and said only denominations of N200 and below would be loaded into the ATMs.

The policy is sequel to the launch of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 23, 2022, the policy.

Stakeholders and including the National Assembly have expressed concerns over the suddenness and downsides of the policy.

Many POS operators had said the policy would strangulate their activities and rob them of employment while politicians said it was targeted at opposition parties ahead of the 2023 general elections.  

The CBN had since December 21, 2022 increased the weekly cash withdrawal limits to N500,000 for individuals and N5m for corporate firms.

With the January 31 Deadline fast approaching, Nigerians have began to express concerns over the slow spread of the three redesigned new naira notes.

The CBN also recently directed commercial banks to halt over-the-counter payment of the new notes and load their ATMs with the redesigned naira notes to boost circulation.

Following controversies over the quality of the new notes, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc, recently said the newly redesigned naira banknotes passed through the same printing processes as the others in circulation.