Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso has said the bank will put in place a monitoring system to check the services of the banks and sanction any bank that fails to dispense cash.
Cardoso stated this on Tuesday at a press conference after the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja.
There have been reports of cash scarcity with some banks allegedly rationing cash dispensed per customer. In November 2023, the CBN attributed it to high volume of withdrawals from its branches by banks and panic withdrawals by customers from ATMs.
Cardoso said: “We ourselves have devised a monitoring system, a spot-checking system, whereby we will go to the banks and just ensure that these things are done in the way and manner in which they are meant to be done,” he said.
“And if they are not, again, there will be sanctions but I believe that at the stage we are in now, everybody realises that stakeholders play their part in ensuring that cash gets to the desired places they are intended to be.”
He further disclosed that N1.4 trillion will be distributed in the next three months to aid cash flow within the banking system.
Cardoso reiterated that banks do not have any excuse not to dispense cash.
“Another N1.4 trillion is likely to be delivered in another three months to aid that whole process of cash within the system,” he said.
“So from our perspective, we are doing everything possible to ensure that there is sufficient cash in the system. There is no excuse for not having sufficient cash in the system.
“Now it goes to the deployment of that cash and quite frankly, we are working very, very closely, we are engaging with all the deposit money banks to ensure that they are putting these things through their ATMs, effectively dispensing cash to those that are in need.
“And whether they are in need or not, that’s the function of the deposit money banks. And at all points in time, there should be sufficient cash in their system that nobody should go there without being able to withdraw.”
