TheCable

Aishah Ahmad, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says 500 million new naira notes have been ordered and would be printed soon.

Ahmad spoke on Thursday while being grilled by members of the house of representatives during the plenary session.

In November, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned naira notes of N1000, N500 and N200 denominations.

Since it went into circulation on December 15, there have been complaints of insufficient quantities available at deposit money banks.

Commenting on the number of notes in circulation, the CBN deputy governor said she does not know “how much of new naira notes were printed”.

Her response caused a stir in the chamber as the lawmakers wondered why she would not be aware of the figure.

The CBN deputy governor however said she was being careful so as not to give a wrong figure.

The lawmakers also grilled Ahmad, who is representing Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, on the new cash withdrawal policy of the apex bank.

Speaking on the controversial issue, Ahmad said the newly introduced withdrawal limit was not done for political reasons.