The Central Bank’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed that the top bank has lost track of N2.7 trillion of the nation’s money that is now in circulation.
During the CBN governor’s special news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Mr. Emiefele made this disclosure in a statement.
The head of the central bank claimed that 80% of the money in circulation in the nation was not kept in commercial banks’ vaults.
He saw that Nigerians were hoarding cash and avoiding banks.
To be more precise, as of the end of September 2022, CBN figures reveal that N2.73 trillion of the N3.23 trillion in money in circulation was allegedly kept by the general public outside the vaults of commercial banks across the nation. Evidently, the amount of money in circulation has increased significantly since 2015, going from N1.46 trillion in December of that year to N3.23 trillion in September of next year, according to Mr. Emefiele.
The disclosure coincides with the national bank’s intentions to introduce new naira notes.
Before the January 31, 2023 expiration date, he urged depositors to visit the banks and swap their old currency for the new ones.
President Muhammadu Buhari and other interested parties have subsequently approved the action to raise the value of the naira, according to Mr. Emefiele.
