Central Bank of Nigeria has thrown entrepreneurs and individuals in the country in to panic mode following the announcement of fresh cash withdrawal limits for individual and organizations with effect from January 9 2023.

This directive was contained in a memo issued by the CBN to banks where it was indicated that individuals will only be able to withdraw One Hundred Thousand Naira per week over the counter, point of sale machines or automated teller machines, while organizations can access Five Hundred Thousand Naira per week.

The memo which was signed by the financial institutions Director of Banking supervision Haruna Mustafa directed banks to load only Two Hundred Naira notes and lower denominations in their ATM’s to allow Nigerians withdraw just Twenty Thousand Naira per day from ATM’s when the directive becomes effective.

The memo further stated that the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter by individuals and corporate organizations per week will henceforth be One Hundred Thousand Naira and Five Hundred Thousand Naira respectively. Withdrawals above this limit will attract processing fees of 5percent and 10 percent respectively

Third party cheques above Fifty Thousand naira will not be eligible for payment over the counter while extant limits of Ten million Naira on clearing cheques still subsist.

The maximum cash withdrawal per week via automated teller machine will be one hundred thousand naira subject to a maximum od Twenty-Thousand-naira cash withdrawal per day

However, there is an exemption that allows up to 5million naira for individuals and 10 million naira for organizations once a month which is subjected to fulfilling certain requirements.

The CBN however warned banks that any institution found aiding and abetting the circumvention of the policy will face severe sanctions