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•Assures of sufficient cash supply
From Uche Usim, Abuja
As naira scarcity continues to rock parts of the country, forcing commercial banks to ration cash in their stock, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, for the umpteenth time, assured of adequate stock currency to meet the needs of public.
It added that currency in circulation which as of February 2023, was N1 trillion, has risen to over N3.4 trillion as of December 11, 2023.
The apex bank, in a statement on Wednesday signed by its Spokesperson, Mrs Sidi Ali Hakama, said the aforementioned figure indicated that there was sufficient cash in circulation, except that the cash was being hoarded by individuals being haunted by the ghost of the 2023 naira scarcity experience.
She assured that the CBN was aggressively addressing the reported cash scarcity in some major cities across the country.
Ali further disclosed that the CBN was monitoring the situation and had released sufficient cash to its branches across the country for onward distribution to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
The apex bank’s spokesperson empathised with Nigerians, over their previous and current experiences, but insisted that the CBN had adequate cash to meet the day-to-day transaction needs of citizens.
She however, appealed to Nigerians to be patient while the CBN continues to resolve some of the bottlenecks in the naira distribution chain to ensure the availability of cash, particularly during the Yuletide and beyond.
While urging bank customers to continue to accept all Naira banknotes for their daily transactions, Sidi Ali reiterated the apex bank’s earlier call to the public to embrace alternative modes of payment, e-channels, to reduce pressure on the use of physical cash.
