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    “Why We Reduced Minting Of Naira” — Central Bank of Nigeria

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday said it re­duced the minting of the nai­ra in order to boost electronic banking transactions in the country.

    The CBN Deputy Gover­nor, Economic Policy Direc­torate, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, said this on Thursday in Abu­ja at the Grand Finale of the eNaira Hackathon.

    The Hackathon is an initia­tive that creates a collabora­tive environment for experts with a diverse set of skills to drive sustained innovation geared towards making the eNaira the pinnacle for digi­tal financial services and the gateway to the digital economy.

    It is intended to sought solutions that would drive financial inclusion, SME growth and the creation of start-ups; facilitate cross bor­der trades and transfers as well as international remit­tances and foreign exchanges; effective implementation of welfare-inclined government programmes; and enhance efficiency in the interbank market.

    Thursday’s event was targeted at providing an engagement with critical stakeholders in the financial technology space to deepen the link between eNaira and Fintechs.

    Speaking at the event, Obio­ra said that many major econo­mies of the world have started reducing the use of cash as a form of business transactions.

    He said in South Korea, 77 percent of the people no longer use cash to do payment, while 30 percent of the population in Philippines don’t use cash as a form of exchange.

    Obiora said in Nigeria, the reduction in the use of cash as a medium of exchange has led to an explosion in electronic businesses.

    Specifically, the CBN depu­ty governor said that the value of e-business had grown from N393 billion in 2014 to about N2.4 trillion currently.

    He said, “In South Korea, 77 percent no longer use cash to do payment, while in the Philip­pines it is 30 percent. In Nigeria too, we are also seeing the same decline in the use of cash, the minting of currencies in the CBN has been reducing in the last couple of years.

    “So, alongside this reduc­tion in the use of cash has also been an explosion in elec­tronic business and e-business and we have seen the value of e-business grow from N393 billion in 2014 to about N2.4 trillion now.

    “And so, if you look at this movement, you will realise that the central banks in the world are responding to yearnings of citizens which is why citizens in 96 percent of central banks in the world are either working on digital currencies or they have done so already.”

    [TheIndependent]