New Naira Notes: CBN Begins Countdown, Orders Banks to Adjust Banking Hours, Operations
- The Central Bank of Nigeria has set up a countdown clock on its website for the introduction of the new naira notes
- As per the clock, there are about 70 days left to the introduction of new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes into circulation
- The CBN also asked commercial banks to extend banking to Saturdays, with many of them saying they have opened alternative channels
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Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has begun the countdown to introduce new naira notes into circulation.
According to the clock, as seen by Legit.ng, there are about 70 days left before the introduction of new banknotes as of the time of this writing.
Source: UGC
CBN orders banks to adjust banking operations
The CBN announced the redesigning of three new banknotes in October amid panic by Nigerians and currency hoarders. The banknotes include N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
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The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, explained the bank's decision and said that a large chunk of money was outside the banking system.
He said one of the challenges facing the naira includes currency hoarding by members of the public, with data indicating that over 80 per cent of the currency in circulation is outside banks’ vaults.
The CBN had also instructed commercial banks to work Saturdays to enable depositors to return existing banknotes.
However, some commercial banks said they had extended their banking hours to 6pm daily and 10 am to 2 pm on Saturdays to accommodate CBN directives.
Other banks said they had opened alternative banking channels for customers to leverage as the deadline draws near.
New naira notes: CBN asks banks to accept cash deposits above N500,000
Recall that Legit.ng reported that In its ongoing efforts to ensure full compliance with the deadline for the naira redesign, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to accept cash deposits above its cashless policy level.
CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, stated this on Thursday, November 10, 2022, at the 2022 Lagos International Trade Fair.
Nwanisobi said banks have been asked to return existing naira notes to the apex bank immediately and instructed to accept cash deposits above the cashless policy threshold without charges.
Source: Legit.ng
