Economy
Senator Suggests N100 as Highest Denomination in Circulation
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The lawmaker representing Taraba Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Mr Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, has said to curb corruption and prevent having a larger percentage of money in circulation in the hands of kidnappers and others, he would want the highest denomination in circulation in Nigeria to be N100, and not N1,000.
The Senator gave this submission at the plenary on Thursday during a debate on the new cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which aims to make the highest cash withdrawal for individuals in a week N100,000 and N500,000 for corporate organisations.
On October 26, 2022, the Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, informed newsmen that of the N3.2 trillion in circulation, about N2.7 trillion was not in the banks’ vaults, a development that prompted the apex bank to redesign the Naira, especially the N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations.
On November 23, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new notes, and on December 15, 2022, they were officially introduced into the financial system, with banks giving out the new banknotes at over-the-counter (OTC) and ATMs, with N200 as the highest denomination from the machines from January 9, 2023.
While arguing on the new cash withdrawal limits yesterday, after several persons kicked against it, Mr Yusuf praised the CBN for the policy, saying it would curb corruption.
“When we are talking about cashless, we should be mindful that about N3.3 trillion in circulation, it’s only about a trillion naira that is in the bank. It is a danger to the country.
“Left to me, I would recommend the highest denomination to be N100. I so much support that we should go with the cashless policy in line with the present system that the CBN has adopted,” the lawmaker argued after Mr Uba Sani submitted a report of the Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions on the Implementation of Cashless Policy and the New Withdrawal Limits to the Senate.
Speaking on the report at the plenary presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Mr Ovie Omo-Agege, another Senator, Mr Ajibola Basiru, noted that, “The threshold that had been set is unrealistic to have any robust and meaningful life to our people.
“I am not oblivious to the fact that the committee has come up with recommendations. As a Committee of the Senate, we ought to have been alerted with certain indices to come up with recommendations on what should be the adjustment. I am suggesting that the threshold should be N500,000 for individuals per week.”
For Mr Orji Uzor Kalu, he backed the CBN for the policy but suggested that the limit should be N500,000 per day for individuals and N3 million per day for corporates, noting that this “will cover the fear of anybody.”
In her argument, Mrs Biodun Olujimi stated that, “When this issue came out, everyone that spoke on that day agreed on what the CBN was about to do.
“However, we were sceptical of certain issues contained in the proposal. The details were not clear to any of us. If there had been a consultation, we wouldn’t be where we are today. People would have gotten to know what is required of them and what is required of the CBN.
“The CBN approved POS operators and registered them and took money from them, and now those people can only do so little. It took all our unemployed graduates off the street. This policy will send them back to the streets.
“Why is this happening during an election period? Why is it that it is coming now? There is a need to be flexible in what we are doing now.”
Another contributor to the matter, Mr Adamu Aliero, stated that, “This report gives us an ideal picture of what the country should be but in reality, what is happening is different. The informal sector of the economy is very big, and it is not captured in the banking system.
“More people in the rural areas don’t go to the bank, and there is a need for sensitization and enlightenment in order to make this kind of people embrace the banking system.
“We have 774 Local Governments, and the bank covers only about 60% of these local government areas. It is difficult to really force these people to embrace banking culture. I support the idea of the cashless policy, but we should do it with caution.”
“I don’t think that anybody objects to the fact that a cashless society is what we need. My concern comes as a result of us being punitive.
“We must ensure that our society progresses, and those who make efforts to make an additional living should be encouraged. When you look at the measures CBN has put in their policy, to me, it appears punitive. I think in the global best practice, it doesn’t exist, so we don’t deter people from progressing,” the Senator from Anambra State, Ms Stella Oduah, submitted.
After taking inputs from more lawmakers, the Senate agreed that the central bank should considerably adjust the withdrawal limits in response to public outcry on the policy, with the committee tasked to embark on aggressive oversight of the bank on its commitment to flexible adjustment of the withdrawal limit and periodically report the outcome to the Senate.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.
Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.
The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.
For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.
There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock market crashed by 0.37 per cent on Thursday as a result of the decline in the price of shares of McNichols, Eterna, Aradel Holdings, and others.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained weak after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended the session with 25 price gainers and 31 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
McNichols lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N7.74, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N6.20, Eterna shrank by 9.85 per cent to N29.75, Aradel Holdings depreciated by 9.51 per cent to N1,749.90, and NPF Microfinance Bank contracted by 8.45 per cent to N5.20.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance gained 10.00 per cent to close at N6.60, Omatek improved by 9.73 per cent to N2.03, Abbey Mortgage Bank surged by 9.68 per cent to N8.50, Cutix expanded by 9.66 per cent to N3.18, and John Holt grew by 7.79 per cent to N14.90.
As for the sectorial performance, the industrial goods and banking indices chalked up 0.54 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively. But the energy sector depleted by 4.90 per cent, the insurance counter tumbled by 0.58 per cent, and the consumer goods index slumped by 0.03 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 905.30 points to 242,227.31 points from 243,132.61 points, and the market capitalisation stumbled by N581 billion to N155.359 trillion from N155.940 trillion.
During the session, investors traded 588.5 million equities valued at N27.9 billion in 57,352 deals compared with the 923.0 million equities worth N42.3 billion transacted in 69,332 deals on Wednesday, showing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 36.24 per cent, 34.04 per cent, and 17.28 per cent, respectively.
The most active equity yesterday was Access Holdings with 109.7 million units sold for N2.6 billion, FCMB traded 35.6 million units valued at N384.2 million, NGX Group transacted 28.1 million units worth N3.9 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 26.9 million units for N3.3 billion, and Sterling Holdings recorded a turnover of 22.5 million units worth N176.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A 0.1 per cent or N1,49 loss was recorded by the Nigerian Naira against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, June 4, closing at N1,358.75/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,347.26/$1.
In the same vein, the Naira depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market during the session by N5.39 to trade at N1,828.06/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,822.67/£1, but gained N6.75 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.83/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,584.39/€1.
At the black market and GTBank FX desk, the local currency traded flat against the Dollar during the session at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that NFEM interbank FX turnover contracted to $128.117 million in 121 deals on Thursday from $133.731 million the previous day.
On the positive side, Nigeria’s external reserves moved closer to a 2009 high of $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about the local currency outlook in the second half of 2026.
This improvement has been helped by heightened global uncertainty, which has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices extended steep weekly losses as the broader artificial-intelligence trade that has driven global risk assets since 2026 faltered.
The sell-off was led by equity and currency markets, with semiconductor stocks, Asian indexes and several regional currencies sliding in a broad risk-off shift.
Persistent outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs and a rare BTC sale by Strategy have removed a key source of support, leaving markets focused on Friday’s US jobs report for clues on Federal Reserve policy and the fate of the AI trade. The most valued coin slipped 3.6 per cent to $61,914.58.
Cardano (ADA) plunged by 17.6 per cent to $0.1630, Solana (SOL) declined by 7.0 per cent to $65.69, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 6.9 per cent to $1,666.13, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 6.5 per cent to $0.8445, and Ripple (XRP) crashed by 6.5 per cent to $1.11.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 4.3 per cent to $581.45, and TRON (TRX) dropped 1.9 per cent to sell at $0.3261, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) gained 0.01 per cent each to sell at $0.9990 and $0.9998, respectively.
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