In 2025 Nigeria suffered from severe cash shortages. In response a special committee was established, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso. The committee undertook a holistic and comprehensive end-to-end review of the entire cash lifecycle: from production, to transportation, to distribution, and eventual access by consumers.
This broad-based assessment worked to address the underlying structural issues, rather than applying temporary fixes or just addressing symptoms.
CBN recalibrated its cash-printing models, issued guidelines on the optimal ATM-to-card ratio, strengthened requirements for CBN approval before ATM or branch closures, enforced sanctions on banks whose ATMs fail to dispense cash, and intensified supervision of payment agents and POS operators nationwide.
To reinforce compliance, the CBN has recently sanctioned Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) that failed to make naira notes available through ATMs during the Christmas season. Each defaulting bank was fined N150 million following spot checks on branches, in line with the CBN’s cash distribution guidelines.
CBN is investigating cash hoarding and rationing by banks and Point of Sale (POS) operators, working with security agencies to curb illegal cash sales and enforcing operational rules, including the daily cumulative POS withdrawal limit of N1.2 million.
The governor has been clear that banks must strictly comply with cash distribution policies or face stiff penalties so that CBN can maintain a strong cash buffer to meet Nigerians’ needs.
