Naira Scarcity: 3 Facts You Need to Know About Current Status of Old and New Notes
- Nigerians may continue to face the challenges of Naira scarcity in the country for months as it is not appearing that the federal government would have a second thought
- Despite the suggestion from the national council that the CBN should allow the old and new notes to co-exist, it is not certain that the CBN will release the old notes for Nigerians to use
- Unfortunately, some Nigerians have started rejecting the old notes despite the supreme court rulings and this makes things go worse
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Nigerians have continued to lament the scarcity of the naira in the country and are wondering when the currency will be available for them to run their businesses.
Since November when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unveiled the new naira notes, there have been debates on the implementation and importance.
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Unfortunately, the deadline set by the apex bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari put all Nigerians in a corner.
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Emefiele had set January 31 as the deadline, the tension was very high and many stakeholders have made calls to the ears of the federal government to allow the old and new notes to co-exist till they are gradually withdrawn from circulation.
Below are some facts you must know:
Will CBN allow old and new naira notes to co-exist?
There is a strong indication that the CBN may not allow the co-existence of old and new naira notes as they are currently being practised in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
This is due to the fact that the CBN has announced its readiness to print more new notes to complement the ones in circulation.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai in many of his interviews has alleged that the CBN governor has hidden agenda for printing N300 billion while it has retrieved about N2 trillion from circulation.
Are old naira notes still acceptable?
The supreme court has restricted the federal government from withdrawing the old notes from circulation and President Buhari has vowed to obey the court order.
However, traders in some parts of the country have stopped accepting the currency. Governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawale has ordered the arrest of any person rejecting the old note in his state.
When will CBN make the naira available?
The CBN has not been specific on the availability of naira in the country but promised to ensure that the currency circulates to address Nigerians' needs.
The apex bank has also alleged that some banks have been hoarding the ones given to them but there are indications that the CBN did not print enough currencies for Nigerians.
2023: Why over 60% of Nigerians may be willing to sell their votes on election day
Legit.ng earlier reported that as naira scarcity bites Nigerians harder ahead of the forthcoming poll, it could be difficult to convince many of them on election day.
The CBN statistics have shown that more than 60% of Nigerians are unbanked while those who have money in banks could not access their money because of the non-availability of naira.
Many of the unbanked have found ways to ensure that their cash to banks, mostly through POS operators but they could not get it, they may be willing to sell their votes on election day for survival.
Source: Legit.ng
