About three weeks prior, at the Federal Executive Council meeting held in Aso Rock Villa, President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) unveiled the new bills.
The revised N200, N500, and N1,000 notes were unveiled by the President.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had previously stated in October that the apex bank will issue newly designed naira notes by December 15, 2022.
Additionally, he stated that as of January 31, 2023, the old notes would no longer be accepted as legal cash.
Emefiele emphasized that the redesign of the naira notes would aid in reducing ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers as well as counterfeit notes.
The head of the CBN said it was concerning that Nigerians were hoarding 85% of the entire amount of cash in circulation.
He added that out of the about N3.3 trillion in circulation, nearly N2.75 trillion were outside the banking sector and that the redesign of the local currency will help to mop up the currency outside the banking sector.
He also mentioned that after January 31, 2023, the old notes would no longer be considered legal cash.
Emefiele made the argument that the redesign of naira currency would lessen ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers, as well as the production of counterfeit notes.
The head of the CBN expressed concern about the fact that Nigerians were hoarding 85% of the cash in circulation.
As a result, he said that the redesign of the local currency will aid in collecting the currency that is not used by banks, adding that of the approximately N3.3 trillion in circulation, nearly N2.75 trillion was not used by banks.
Top commercial bank executives told our correspondent on Wednesday that they had received the new notes from the CBN a few days prior and that their customers will start receiving the redesigned money on Thursday (today).
“We got the funds (new notes) about two days ago. Our head office has dispatched the funds to various area offices across the country. My branch will pick up our allocation at a nearby area office. We will start releasing the new notes to our customers by Thursday,” according to a top official of a commercial bank who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity on Wednesday because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
Multiple banking sources also said the new notes had arrived and were being kept in their vaults.
They confirmed the new notes would be paid to customers in banking halls beginning from Thursday.
“The new notes have arrived, it will be made available to customers from tomorrow (Thursday)” an official of Polaris Bank who pleaded anonymity told The PUNCH.
Also, a manager at First Bank Plc who was not authorised to speak on the matter said, “We have the funds from the CBN now. It came in some days ago but it will be made available to customers from tomorrow (Thursday).”
The quantity of the fresh notes made available to the various banks by the CBN, according to several bank executives, was little.
They claim that because the number of new notes still being made accessible is so minimal, the majority of OTC payments will still need to be made using the old notes.
“The amount given to us is small compared to what we need. For example, what is available to my branch is less than N1m. This is nothing compared to what we need. But I believe it will increase with time,” an official of FCMB in Lagos who pleaded anonymity told one of our correspondents.
Several financial sources have reported that they had begun reprogramming their ATMs to recognize the new naira notes.
“Most of the banks have started redesigning their ATMs so that they can detect the new notes of N1000, N500, and N200,” claimed a top bank executive.
The overall amount to be released into circulation may not be as much as the amount already in circulation, according to CBN data.
Under the condition of anonymity, a senior CBN official stated that the organization intended to encourage electronic payments rather than cash transactions.
He claims that the CBN won’t be printing many of the new notes.
He said, “The CBN has been disbursing the new naira notes to the banks but does not intend to disburse large quantities because it wants to boost electronic payments.
“Don’t expect that there will be a large circulation of the new notes in the economy. There are different electronic channels that people should be using.”
The Post ‘Today Sees the Introduction of New Naira Notes’ initially appeared on reubenabati
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