The Central Bank of Nigeria has some principal motives behind its decision to redesign the Naira and also impose limits on withdrawal of cash by Nigerians.
The Primary aim behind the decision when compared with the 4 main aims is the need to ensure that those who have stashed cash at home to compromise the electorate are unable to do so.
Johnson Chukwu who is the Chief Executive officer of Cowries Asset Management disclosed this while speaking to Tolulope Ogunjobi on the TVC News Programme, Business Nigeria on Friday afternoon.
He said when placed side by side with the withdrawal limit and the time limit it takes for the new notes to become legal tender and replace the old ones, it is clear that that is the major thrust of the Policy.
Mr Chukwu however added that the policy also has Other benefits that include fighting crimes, in particular as it relates to kidnapping for ransom, he said this will make it difficult for kidnappers to get the kind of ransom they will be looking for.
He said the limit on both personal and Corporate accounts will make the main aim of kidnaping disappear since it will be impossible to get money.
He also added that to even transfer will be difficult since any account collecting ransom will get a No Debit notification and will have to explain why such amount of money is coming into the account.
He said the Other gains will also ensure their is financial inclusion that will make the Economy more effective with the implementation of monetary policies now becoming more effective due to the enhanced financial inclusion which is a traditional channel for implementing monetary policies.
On the issue of challenges that may come with the implementation of the Cashless Policy, he said Nigeria has achieved a lot of milestones in the implementation of the Policy compared to when it started 10 years ago.
He said the fact that people no longer go around with large amount of cash for lodgment in banks is an indication of the success of the Policy.
He however listed the effectiveness of the internet and communications network in the Country as an impediment to the Cashless policy which he said can be mitigated with the introduction of 5G Network in the coming months.
He said the challenges will remain though some of which according to him will be filled by operators of Point of Sales Machines.
