CBN, Bankers’ Committee to set up mobile court for naira abusers
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee on Thursday resolved to establish a mobile court to try on the spot erring Nigerians who abuse the naira.
Abuse of the local currency as explained by Isaac Okorafor, director, corporate communications department, CBN, includes spraying it at a party, hawking, writing on it, squeezing or dancing on it, among others.
The CBN would be working collaboratively with the Ministry of Justice and the Nigerian police to enforce this.
“We are going to be issuing communiqués, disseminating information about the correct way to handle the naira so that the people do not handle the money incorrectly. Specifically, one of the things that we severely frowned at and that action is to be taken soon has to do with people who actually sell the currency notes,” Hamda Ambah, managing director/CEO, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, said, while addressing the media after the bankers committee meeting in Lagos.
Others who addressed the media include Ahmad Abdullahi, director, banking supervision, CBN, Herbert Wigwe, group managing director/CEO, Access Bank plc, and Emeka Emuwa, group managing director/CEO, Union Bank plc.
Abdullahi said the committee looked at the economy in terms of the global challenges, specifically as it related to interest rate hike in the US, which he said had led to outflow of capital in emerging markets.
“Confidence in the economy is seriously high, there is stability in the FX market, also oil price is strong, about $80 and that is what is giving confidence in Nigeria economy,” Abdullahi said.
He further said, “However, we noted this development and we recognised that all hands should be on deck towards working together to ensure that slow down in economic growth is reversed.”
Wigwe said it was resolved at the bankers committee that the discretionary cash reserves that have been built up over time should be channelled towards agriculture in a very approved manner.
“Apart from agriculture, the deliberations were that most of money should be channelled towards the manufacturing sector, basically looking at the entire agric value chain and the manufacturing sector,” Wigwe said.
Speaking further he said, “What the bankers committee is saying is that can we basically devote enough resources to different items so that over times, not too distant future, there will be no need to allocate resources anymore because those items would have already be produced in Nigeria.”
Emuwa said the committee deliberated on how to make sure that the country deepens access to financial services and economic empowerment.
He said the CBN would within 24 hours issue a draft framework on the payment system aimed at deepening financial inclusion.