Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the apex bank will be working with law enforcement agencies to crack down on the illegal buying and selling of naira notes.
Speaking at the inaugural Stakeholders’ Conference of the Committee of Heads of Banks Operations (CHBO) in Lagos, themed “Commoditisation of the Naira: The Way Forward,” the CBN governor described the practice as highly inappropriate.
At the event, Cardoso was represented by Fatai Kareem, the senior special adviser to the CBN governor. Kareem stated that the commoditisation of the Nigerian currency threatens not only the banking sector but also the daily lives of Nigerians who rely on it for transactions.
He described commoditisation as a process by which the national currency is treated as a tradable asset with its intrinsic national value being subjected to the principles of capitalism rather than being seen as a means of exchange for economic and items of value.
His words:
Vanguard reports that the CBN stated that it plans to tackle commoditisationation of the naira through the following measures:
TimesNow.com.ng previously reported that the latest CBN data showed that the total currency in circulation had hit N4.14 trillion, with N3.87 trillion currently outside the Nigerian banking system.
The development showed that 93.34% of Nigeria’s currency is in the hands of Nigerians and businesses, while 6.66% is in the banking sector.
The gap between the currency outside the banks and the total currency in circulation suggested that Nigerians still depend massively on cash for daily transactions.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
