The Central Bank of Nigeria should convert the country’s lower currency notes into coins to facilitate “highly repetitive” retail transactions, the Senate said Tuesday.

The advice came after a Senator spoke on the implications of rejection of the existing coin denominations for the economy.

“The local retailers keep rejecting the coins because commercial banks won’t accept them as deposit, even when they are reflected on paper, and the CBN still recognizes them as legal tender,” said Mustapha Bukar, the APC Senator representing Katsina South.

Given the rejection, plus the loss of value of the coins due to inflation, Mr. Bukar, therefore, suggested conversion of the the lower notes into coins to “cater for highly repetitive transactions” which “overwhelming majority” of Nigerians are engaged in due to “location and income”.

“Since the three coin denominations of 50 kobo, one kobo and 10 kobo have lost their values due to inflation, the conversion of lower currency notes to coins will facilitate retail transactions in the economy, like we have in developed countries,” the senator said.

“Despite the huge budget by the CBN on sensitising Nigerians on the need to accept coins, the transaction chains were broken and banks and customers reject the currency, thus, promoting corruption and escalating inflation to the extent of diminishing the value of the coins.”

Quoting unnamed “experts”, he said coin denominations were important in helping control devaluation of country’s currency. Taking an instance from the U.S.A, he said a reason why one cent had not phased out “is due to inflationary ramifications of such a move”.

He observed that coins were still being used in advanced countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates, but lamented Nigeria has now become the only country in West Africa “where there is a total absence of the coins in the economy.”

“In Nigeria, there are two types of retail payments; the highly repetitive small value transactions, such as urban transportation, sweets, cigarettes, kola nuts, sachet water, vegetable etc., as well as, less frequent but high value transactions like clothing, footwear, raw foodstuff, electronics etc.

“Coin currencies are designed globally to cater for highly repetitive transactions because of the nature and conditions under which they happen, such as crowded markets, bus stations, congested traffic, and varying weather conditions, including rainy, sunny and humid conditions in which notes are ill-suited for them.

“Countries regularly upgrade their coinage to keep pace with the prices of this category of retail items,” Mr. Bukar explained.

Following the motion, the Senate, led by Ike Ekweremadu, resolved to urge the CBN to intensify efforts to bring coins back to the economy; and convert lower currency notes into coins to be used “side-by-side with the notes” to facilitate highly repetitive retail transactions in the country.

The Senate also urged the CBN to impose sanction on any commercial bank that rejects coins as deposit.

Nigeria’s current currency notes are: N5, N10, N20, N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000.

Mr. Bukar did not mention exactly which ones he defined as “lower notes”.

http://www.metronaija.com/2017/05/senate-wants-cbn-to-convert-lower-naira.html

Mr. Bukar must be high on expired Jamaica vegetable. Embezzlement is really affecting his sense of reasoning. His not suggesting how to make our economy stronger so with 50 kobo we can be getting things like biscuits, sachet water and so on and all he could think of is to phase off #5 #10 #20 and #50

Bunch of rogues.

Ok

Que dis people ok, who want to be carrying metal up nd down

Why not re-introduce the good old coins back instead of converting 'lower' currencies into coins.
Americans still spend 'one cent' a hundred of which make '$1'.

lol... Yeye dey smell on all those ladies wey dey carry handbag upandan. make coins go dey their bag e go just dey form beats for road....

Mtsw. I thought he will say let 1 Naira and 50 kobo change to note instead of coin. Who like to carry coin up and down.

Another unneeded waste of time

God help Nigeria, with these kind of people in leadership position.

So cos d coin is rejected d solution is to coin lower noes.

Do this people listen to themselves at all? or dey want to break d jinx of not moving any motion since they assumed office.

Have they reasoned dat coining N5 n N10 will create anoda loss in value for these denominations n we'll still b where we started from.

Instead return N1 n 50k notes n c d denomination fight for its value.

Confused people.. Cashless economy indeed.

This is our life now, I guess we're stuck with this set of clueless leaders. Instead of discussing on policies that will help stimulate the economy thereby making the lower notes valuable again, they're there talking about UK, coins and US. Mr senator, I want to ask you. When you traveled to UK and the United States, was it only coins that you saw? Didn't you see good roads, and I heard they also have constant electricity. How about their leaders, I heard they're accountable to the citizens.

prof Charles soludo has proposed this before, but his idea was rejected.... SMH

Despite how forgotten those smaller currencies are, they still want it phased out entirely. Next thing would be to pass bill for 5k notes.

N5000 note loading.....

So that they will go into extinction.... misplaced priority... confused set of looters

Senate no get work. Who wan carry drill for pocket?

This country don finish

God forgive me but the Senate is filled with many senators with Coconut head

do they use the ones we have before? useless people

lol who dy use coins for naija but come to think of it that coins good for stoning people oo

So that they can go out of circulation abi, then you'll be free to print higher denominations like #10,000 a d #20,000 notes.

Koni daa fun yin lai!

Na them sabi

Breeding hyperinflation

So that they go extinct and after a while they phase them out and then turn the dollar to our national currency abi...

bunch of legislooters..

Dis people are confused again

.

I think those guys are jobless for comingup with such idea, they should check my signature to get something doing

Nonesense

Coins truly there was a con3

mtchewww....who wan carry an?

dead on arrival.