Reps ask CBN to suspend cashless policy

The house of representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt the controversial cashless policy it recently re-introduced.

At plenary session on Thursday, the lower legislative chamber said the policy leads to significant decrease in credit extension by Nigerian money deposit banks.

The also said it has negative impacts on small and medium enterprises “which are clearly the engine room for growth of the economy.”

In a circular released on Tuesday, the CBN had directed all deposit money banks in the country to charge 3 percent processing fees for withdrawals and 2 percent for deposits of amounts above N500,000 for individual accounts.

Corporate account holders will be charged 5 percent processing fees for withdrawals and 3 percent for deposits of amounts above N3 million.

The directive was, however, criticised by some Nigerians for various reasons.