*The Nigerian Senate has set Tuesday, December 13 to debate the new CBN cash withdrawal policy

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Against the backdrop of the recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cash withdrawal policy the Senate has raised concerns about the Bank’s cash withdrawal limits.

ConsumerConnect reports Phillip Aduda, Senate Minority Leader, in a point of order during the plenary Wednesday December 7, 2022, noted the new policy and demanded caution in its implementation.

The Upper Legislative Chamber hinted that the policy would affect several  Nigerian consumers, especially small business owners.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan subsequently, cautioned the CBN to not approach the cash withdrawal policy by jumping into it at once as several Nigerians would be affected.

Lawan further noted that there is a need to engage the CBN in discussions to get more details of the policy.

He, therefore, directed the Senate Committee on Banking to discuss the p matter during the screening of the CBN Deputy Governors expected to hold soon.

The Senate has set next Tuesday to debate the new CBN policy.

It is recalled the CBN, under the new withdrawal policy, has restricted the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate organisations per week to N100,000 and N500,000 respectively.

The Bankers’ Bank, in a circular to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) had stated, however, that withdrawals above the thresholds would attract processing fees of 5 percent and 10 percent respectively for individuals and corporate entities going forward.

Besides, third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for OTC payment while extant limits of N10 million on clearing cheques still remain.

The new withdrawal regime further pegged the maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated teller Machine (ATM) at N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.