By Dipo Olowookere
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has explained the rationale behind the recent directive to financial institutions in the country to transfer all funds in dormant accounts and unclaimed balances to the regulator.
There had been reports that the central bank has asked banks to send all the money lying fallow in several accounts to its vault.
This directive raised dust after there were speculations that the federal government was combing everywhere for funds to spend as a result of low earnings.
It came after President Bola Tinubu asked the National Assembly to amend the 2023 Finance Act in a bid to increase the 2024 budget size by N6.2 trillion.
The government said it intends to take a one-off tax on the foreign exchange (FX) gains of commercial banks and other sources.
Clarifying the dormant bank accounts controversy on Tuesday in Abuja, Mr Cardoso said the decision to take ownership of the funds was for the benefit of the owners of the money.
According to him, bank officials may be tempted to fraudulently use the money if it remains with the financial institutions, noting what the CBN intends to do is to take charge of the funds, use it and pay interest to customers whenever they come to claim them.
“You will agree with me that leaving the money with the banks could lead to fraudulent withdrawals by bank workers.
“We are keeping the money for the safety of the depositors at no cost to them. We will keep it safe with us and release it to them whenever they come for it,” he explained after the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.
At the gathering, the central bank raised the interest rate by 0.50 per cent to 26.75 per cent to bring down the stubborn inflation, which went up to 34.19 per cent last month.