The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has bowed to pressure by Nigerians to extend the deadline for the turning in of the old naira notes.
CBN’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Sunday in Abuja announced that the bank will extend by 10 days a deadline for swapping old naira currency notes.
Nigerians will now have until Feb. 10 to turn in 1,000 ($2.17), 500 and 200 naira notes.
The central bank (CBN) had announced in October 26, 2022, that the newly redesigned notes will replace the old notes. The bank started releasing newly designed notes last month but many complain of the scarcity of the new notes saying that they cannot be found in banks and the Automated Teller Machines, ATM.
Consequently, the unavailability of the new notes reports say have hurt the economic lives of most people who are unable to have a smooth business transaction; nor get the things they need, resulting in the clamour for the deadline to be moved forwardto give Nigerians sufficient time to turn in their old notes for new.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, in a statement, said the new deadline would allow more of those in rural communities to exchange the old notes.
After the Feb. 10 deadline, the statement said, Nigerians would have a further seven days to deposit old notes directly with the CBN.
Nigerian legislators and opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar had called on the central bank to extend the Jan 31 deadline. The latter said that an extension would help in “reducing the financial consequences for citizens”.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is still cash-reliant, particularly among the unbanked and rural communities. Many fear the push for new notes could disrupt business.
The CBN says recalling the notes is part of plans to reduce the use of cash. About 1.3 trillion naira in old notes has been deposited into the bank since the announcement in October, the bank has said.
With Reports From Reuters