Central
Bank of Nigeria exempted all specialized international
institutions from penalties on withdrawal and deposit limits under the cash-less policy, which will begin
in a few days’ time.
A circular by the apex bank signed by the Acting
Director, Banking and Payments
System Department, Mr. Gaius Emokpae, listed the specialised international institutions as
embassies, diplomatic missions, as well as
multilateral and aid donor agencies.
The
statement read in part, “Nigeria is a signatory to several treaties, which exempt institutions from all fees and
charges in the host country. As a matter
of international practice, sovereign states do not impose financial penalties on other sovereign states;
it has become necessary, therefore, to extend
the exemption on cash withdrawal/deposit to these institutions. “The
CBN hereby exempts all embassies, diplomatic missions and multilateral and aid donor agencies in
Nigeria from penalties and charges on cash
withdrawal and deposits with regards to the cash-less Nigeria project.” The CBN had earlier waived penalties on the cash limit
for primary mortgage institutions
and microfinance banks.
It
explained in a statement that the waiver was due to the nature of their business. The
apex bank said, “It has come to our notice that some Deposit Money Banks apply cash withdrawal/deposit
limits for corporate organisations to PMIs
and MFBs. PMIs and MFBs are specialised banks under the new
banking model, which have customers that maintain savings demand and time deposit accounts with them.
“As deposit-taking institutions, they are obliged to honour the withdrawal requests of their customers and other deposit obligations. It is imperative to note that the aggregate withdrawal by the depositors of MFBs and PMIs per day could exceed N1m. Thus, necessitating those institutions to withdraw over N1m from their correspondent banks in order to service their customers.”
banking model, which have customers that maintain savings demand and time deposit accounts with them.
“As deposit-taking institutions, they are obliged to honour the withdrawal requests of their customers and other deposit obligations. It is imperative to note that the aggregate withdrawal by the depositors of MFBs and PMIs per day could exceed N1m. Thus, necessitating those institutions to withdraw over N1m from their correspondent banks in order to service their customers.”
The
CBN recently deferred the take-off date for the cash-less banking initiative in other states apart from
Lagos till January 1, 2013.
It also extended the implementation of the pilot
scheme in Lagos State from
March 31 to December 31, 2012. It, however, said that the implementation of the newly approved processing charges by the banks in Lagos State would commence on April 1, 2012, adding that the charges were subject to review every six months.
March 31 to December 31, 2012. It, however, said that the implementation of the newly approved processing charges by the banks in Lagos State would commence on April 1, 2012, adding that the charges were subject to review every six months.
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