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Excess Crude Account depleted by $7bn – Sanusi

By on July 18, 2013

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi yesterday raised the alarm on the Excess Crude Account, ECA, which he said had shrunk by $7 billion from the initial figure of $12 billion early this year.

The CBN governor, who spoke at an interactive hearing session with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Banking and Currency, also disclosed that interest rates may likely rise above the current 25 percent.

Sanusi had appeared before the Committee after the House passed three resolutions on the high interest rates in the country, allegation that Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, are dispensing counterfeit naira notes and alleged ATM maintenance charges being paid by bank customers.

The CBN governor also urged the Federal Government to reconsider its policy on the redesigning of the naira notes.

According to him, redesigning the naira would check the ability of fraudulent people to make fake notes.

He stressed that the policy would make it impossible to counterfeit the naira, even as he lamented that the N5,000 notes earlier proposed by the bank is being delayed.

He said: “Unfortunately, redesign suffered because of all the noise around N5,000, and therefore, it’s been delayed because that is what would have made it impossible for counterfeiters to counterfeit.

“They would have to take another five, six, seven years before they learn how to counterfeit. By which point, the central bank should be redesigning the notes again.

“I suppose that at some point, the country would have to visit this issue of redesigning the notes. But at the moment, based on popular demand, we have had to step down the redesign.”

He said that for every “N1million produced by the apex bank 8.4 pieces were fake.”

Source: Mirror