The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally given in to pressure from many Nigerians and lawmakers as the apex bank on Wednesday announced an upward review of its cash withdrawal limits directive.
According to a circular issued on Wednesday signed by its Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, Individuals who before now were limited to N100,000 can now withdraw up to N500,000 cash weekly and corporate entities can now withdraw up to N5 million cash across all channels including Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point Of Sale (PoS) terminals.
“The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations shall be N500,000.00 and N5,000,000.00 respectively,” the circular reads.
On the reason for the upward review of cash withdrawal, the apex bank said the adjustment was based on feedback received from stakeholders after its initial announcement on December 6, 2022. It further noted that the will be effective from January 9, 2023.
The CBN had on December 6, 2022 ordered Deposit Money Banks (DMOs) and other financial institutions to ensure that weekly over-the-counter (OTC) cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities do not exceed N100,000 and N500,000, respectively.
It had also pegged maximum daily withdrawals via ATMs and PoS terminals at N20,000 and said only denominations of N200 and below would be loaded into the ATMs.
This directive raised lots of concerns from Nigerians as many of them alleged that the CBN cash withdrawal policy was targeted at PoS vendors. However, the apex bank countered the claim saying it was sequel to the launch of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 23, 2022.
Read the full statement:
