Gov Sule: Nigeria not ready for cashless economy

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, says Nigeria was not ready for a cashless economy because the cash in circulation was less than five per cent of the country’s collective wealth.

Sule stated this while speaking at an interactive session with the All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders at the headquarters of Obi Local Government Area of the state, in continuation of his re-election campaign tour, on Tuesday.

“In Nigeria, the country’s collective wealth is over N50 trillion. But out of this, only N3 trillion is in circulation, which is less than 5 percent. The argument that there is too much money in circulation in Nigeria is not true.

“By the time the cash in circulation reaches about N10 trillion, that is when we can push to transit to a cashless society,” Sule said.

The governor stated that some people were complaining because they do not understand the economic situation of the world and claimed that Nigeria has too much money in circulation.

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“This is far from the truth. If you look at what is happening in the US, and how that country transited to a cashless society, you will understand better.

“But 20 percent of the US wealth is cash in circulation. In India, 15 per cent of the country’s wealth is in circulation,” he added

Governor Sule, however, decried the hardship being faced by Nigerians since the implementation of the cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stressing that the hardship would disappear if the Supreme Court allow the return of the old currency.

“The reason why people are facing difficulty is because the new naira notes were not printed enough. In Nigeria, we have about N3 trillion in circulation. But the CBN only printed N200 billion new naira notes, which is inadequate.

“Actually, the CBN merely collected money from the hands of Nigerians,” Sule stressed.

The Star