A financial expert, Dr Samuel Nzekwe, has urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts in providing critical infrastructure to boost the new policy of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on cash withdrawal.
Nzekwe, who is a former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ota, Ogun.
He spoke while reacting to the new CBN withdrawal policy stipulating that individual and corporate organisation could only withdraw N50,000 and N500,000 respectively over the counter per week, with effect from Jan. 2023.
The new policy also restricts over-the-counter cash withdrawal by individuals and organisations to N100,000 and N500,000 respectively per week.
Nzekwe stressed the need for the federal government to provide critical infrastructure like stable electricity and good road network, among others, for the policy to achieve the desired objective.
“It is not only to fashion out a policy but to ensure that necessary infrastructure are put in place to boost such policy.
” Good network and stable power supply are important for the nation’s digitalisation system and to allow most of the CBN’s policies to run effectively,” he said.
The ex-ANAN president said that there was nothing bad about the new CBN policy, adding, however, that but there must be good road network and stable electricity to enhance its effectiveness.
He said that with the policy, CBN was only trying to encourage the public to key into a financial inclusion where e-platforms, credit cards and debit cards would be used for financial transactions.
Nzekwe commended the new policy, saying that it would help to curb criminal activities like kidnapping and terrorism, among others.
He also said that the policy would assist in checking fraud in the economy, as perpetrators would find it difficult to carry out their nefarious activities.
