CBN May Extend Deadline For Deposit of Old Naira Notes as Scarcity of New Notes Persist, Gives Banks Orders
- The Central Bank of Nigeria has asked deposit money banks to load their ATMs with just N200 of the new notes
- This follows complaints by bank customers that they have been unable to access the new notes
- Some of the banks reported the scarcity of the new notes, saying they have orders to stop over-the-counter withdrawals
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, January 6, 2023, ordered commercial banks to load only N200 notes on ATMs across the country.
The move follows several complaints from depositors who are yet to access the new notes since they began circulation on December 15, 2022.
Source: Getty Images
Banks get orders to stop over the counter withdrawals new notes
The order by the apex bank led to some banks stopping over-the-counter issuance of the new notes.
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Some bank customers expressed surprise when they were unable to get the new notes across the counters.
Some of the banks said they have orders from their head offices to stop issuing the new notes over the counter.
The CBN had insisted that there will be no extension of the timeline for customers to deposit their old naira notes before the end of January 31, 2023.
Experts, however, said the bank may be compelled to extend the deadline following the scarcity of the new naira notes.
CBN may extend deadline for deposit of old notes
Business Editor of the Nigerian Xpress, Emeka Okoroanyanwu said the banks have no choice but to extend the deadline considering the paucity of new notes in circulation.
He said:
“Where did you see the new notes? This calls for an extension. A lot of people's businesses will suffer due to scarcity. Small businesses still depend heavily on cash transactions.”
Findings reveal that Nigerians are still stashing the old naira notes instead of returning them to the banks as the deadline nears.
It is also reported that several banks have stopped Saturday banking which they began in November last year in order to meet the CBN deadline.
Cash in circulation decline
According to the CBN, the new move has led to the reduction of cash in circulation by 3.95 per cent from N3.29 billion to N3.16 billion.
Additionally, currency outside the banking system declined by 6.69 per cent to N2.65 billion in November 2022, compared to N3.29 billion in October 2022, when the announcement for the redesigning of the new notes was made.
Despite the order by CBN to load only lower denominations of the new naira notes on ATMs, many of them still dispense higher denominations.
New naira notes stain white surfaces as part of security features, printing firm says
Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc have highlighted some other features of the new naira notes in order to sensitise Nigerians who expressed worry about the quality of the new notes. T
he printing company said on Friday, January 6, 2023, in a statement signed by its Managing Director, Ahmed Halilu that it is important to enlighten Nigerians on some of the features of the new naira notes.
According to the statement, the attention of the printing company has been drawn to some video clips, skits, concerns and comments made about the quality of the redesigned notes on many platforms.
Source: Legit.ng
