Updated: CBN Directs Individuals With Bulk Cash To Deposit Them With Banks Before January 31 Or …

Bank customers currently holding bulk currencies of the Naira notes presently in circulation have been directed to return them to their banks in readiness for the newly redesigned notes to be launched December 15, 2022

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, gave the directive Wednesday while anouncing that newly redesigned Naira notes in denominations of N200, N500 and N1000 which are to replace the current ones in circulation.

He explained that from now till January 31, it will be about 100 days after which, the current Naira notes in circulation will be illegal tender.

Emefiele who waived bank charges for deposits within N150, 000 however, said that any deposit above N150,000 would attract bank charges.

“We’ve finalized arrangement for the issuance of the newly redesigned bank notes from December 15, 2022 after its launch by President Buhari”, Emefiele said.

He said the redesigned notes will circulate side by side with the old notes and remain legal tender until January 31, 2023 when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.

He directed all the commercial banks currently holding existing old bank notes to start returning them to the CBN immediately as the redesigned new notes will be issued to the banks on first come, first serve basis.

He directed bank customers currently with old bank noted to start depositing them into their banks immediately to enable them receive the redesigned notes as soon as it is launched.

He urged all banks to keep open their currency processing centers from Monday through Saturday in order to attend to their bank depositors returning the old currency to their vaults.

Emefiele waived bank charges on funds being returned to the vaults of commercial banks, just as he warned the public not to reject the old notes as means of exchange for purchase of goods and services.

CBN had announced introducing in circulation redesigned currency notes in frantic efforts to shore up the depreciating value of the naira, check currency hoarding by members of the public, curtail currency counterfeiting, among other acts detrimental to nation’s currency and economic growth.

Emefiele, while saying that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the redesigning of the Naira, said the redesigning affected N200, N500, and N1000

He recalled that currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015, rising from N1.46 trillion in December, 2015 to N3.23 trillion as at end of September, 2022.

He also said there is significant hoarding of Naira by the public, citing that 85 percent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of the commercial banks.

According to him, CBN statistics showed that as at end of September, 2022, N2.73 trillion out of N3.23 trillion currency in circulation was outside the vaults of the commercial banks, probably held by the members of the public.

He said that the standard practice is to redesign currency every 5-8 years but the nation’s existing currencies had not been redesigned in the last 20 years.

Emefiele said that the redesigning of the Naira will curb incidences of kidnapping and Ransome payments, deepen cashless economy and boast the integration of the eNaira into the banking systems.