Senate directs CBN to suspend proposed introduction of N5000 notes
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- Category: Latest
- Published on Monday, 27 August 2012 16:50
- Written by Elombah.com
BREAKING NEWS! Nigeria senate today directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop the proposed introduction of new N5000 notes and coins. The Senators said the action is counter-productive and runs contrary to the cashless economy policy of the apex bank, which effect which has not been felt by Nigerians. The Senate further stated
that spending the whooping amount of about 40 billion naira for redesigning and printing of the new N5000 note and coins when the 2012 budget is facing some implementation challenges is unacceptable.
With steps already taken by CBN itself to address money laundering in the country such as Know-Your-Customers, re-validation of banks’ customers and the on-going cashless Lagos, many Nigerians wonder if the proposed higher denomination of N5000 will not undermine that effort, coupled with our inability to discover and disrupt terrorism financing, said Mr. Tunde Salman, a financial analyst.
Meanwhile it has emerged that the Central Bank of Nigeria will spend N40.3bn to produce its new coins and naira notes.
Out of the amount, N11.8bn will be spent on the new N20, N10 and N5 coins. “The bank is spending over N40bn on the production of new coins and notes. The N40bn is the total sum for the production of the coins and the new notes,” a member of the board of the CBN confided in one of our correspondents in Abuja at weekend.
The CBN had on Thursday announced a comprehensive review of the country’s currency. It introduced N5,000 note as the highest denomination and converted N5, N10 and N20 notes to coins.
The new coins will join the 50k, N1 and N2 coins already in existence but which Nigerians hardly use.
Elombah.com learnt that the CBN, at its board meeting two months ago decided that most of the new notes and coins would be printed by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company.
Our source added that the meeting agreed that only the N5,000 note would be printed by a foreign firm which had “the technology and the capacity to handle the sensitive features in it.”
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