Cardoso blames declining purchasing power and digital payment adoption for scarcity of N100 and N200 notes
Cardoso blames declining purchasing power and digital payment adoption for scarcity of N100 and N200 notes
The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has attributed the shortage of lower-denomination naira notes to the developing use of virtual payment channels and changing demand for bodily coins.
speaking after the economic coverage Committee (MPC) assembly in Abuja, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the decreased move of decrease-value notes does now not imply they had been withdrawn, stressing that the N100 and N200 notes stay criminal soft. “yes, they stay legal tender. unless the central bank states in any other case, Nigerians should assume that all present denominations stay criminal gentle.”
Cardoso defined that as more Nigerians embody digital payments, the call for for cash and decrease-denomination notes has evidently declined, lowering the want for the apex financial institution to print and flow into them in massive quantities. “As more people undertake digital charge channels, the demand for coins and decrease-denomination notes naturally declines. If there is less demand for them, there is less need to print and flow into them in big portions.”
He also noted that inflation and the declining buying electricity of lower-fee notes have contributed to their reduced use in regular transactions. “Of direction, we ought to additionally well known that forex devaluation has affected the shopping energy of decrease-fee notes. that is a truth.”
On inflation, Cardoso stated the CBN stays committed to attaining single-digit inflation regardless of external monetary shocks which have not on time progress. “We recorded 11 consecutive months of disinflation… regrettably, we have experienced external shocks that had been now not predicted… As for our unmarried-digit inflation goal, we remain devoted to it.”
Responding to the global monetary Fund’s (IMF) assessment that the naira is undervalued, Cardoso reiterated that the trade price ought to be decided through market forces in preference to a fixed target. “we can retain to make certain that Nigeria has a foreign exchange marketplace that is transparent, liquid and based totally on a inclined-customer, willing-seller framework.”
He delivered that the CBN is comfortable with the present day country of the foreign exchange marketplace, noting that each day turnover has handed $1 billion on a few events, reflecting improving investor self belief.
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