Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says transactions will be cheaper to conduct with Nigeria’s digital currency, e-naira.
The Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated this in Abuja at the end of the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
He said: “Our digital currency which is tagged e-naira will certainly come into operation in October and we are working very hard for this.
“We believe transactions will be cheaper and more efficient as there will be less conflict.”
According to him, the economy is going digital and “cash cannot play in that space,” adding that “e-naira which will represent the digital equivalent of cash will be used as fiat currency for transactions”.
On how the e-naira will work, Godwin Emefiele said: “If you choose to convert some of the naira in your account to e-wallet or digital currency, we will support that.
“When this starts the CBN will move some of the balances in the apex bank to those banks into digital currency. You go to your bank, you decide to move N2 million from the N10 million you have in your account to digital currency they will debit your account and move it into your e-wallet.
“Then you have N2 million digital currency which you can spend across countries”.
He noted that “the use of cash is declining all over the world,” noting that “with the advent of digital currency, more people are adopting the use of electronic money to facilitate little commerce”.
The CBN Governor said ”cryptocurrencies are private monies that are not regulated, therefore using them is a personal decision”.
“if you decide to use them, it means you are taking your risk. If you make your money, we will wish you good luck but if you lose your money, we will laugh at you,” he said.
At the end of the MPC meeting, members of the Committee decided by a unanimous vote to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 11.5 per cent; retain the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; retain the CRR at 27.5 per cent, and retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
TN