Godwin Emefiele, the CBN’s governor, is appearing before the House of Representatives’ special committee looking into the shortage of fresh naira notes. He said that the amount of money in circulation increased from N1.4 trillion in 2015 to N3.33 trillion in 2016.
Speaking to the committee on the redesign of the naira, Mr. Emefiele stated that the CBN’s actions were in accordance with global best practises and that the apex bank needed to have control over the currency in circulation. He gave an explanation for why he hadn’t responded to earlier invitations, claiming that he had been out of the country.
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Emefiele, who bemoaned the recent trend of seeing the new notes at gatherings, said he was engaging with commercial banks to address this. He clarified that the purpose of ordering banks to guarantee that only ATM withdrawals were permitted was to restrict the amount that any one person may withdraw daily.
Although the CBN boss acknowledged that the measures will harm some people, he insisted that they were in the nation’s best interests, particularly in the fight against insecurity.
Emefiele said that many of the banks were hoarding the new notes, but the lack of the notes compelled the House to form an ad hoc committee to discuss the issues between the CBN and commercial banks.
Despite earlier demands and letters stating that he was in the US on a crucial assignment, Emefiele had declined to appear before the House members.
