No going back on January 31 as deadline for old notes, CBN insists

Image: Channels Television

Those looking forward to the Central Bank of Nigeria extending the January 31 deadline to return the old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes would have to forget it. News reaching Nollywood Times has it that the apex bank remains adamant regarding the deadline, and by that date, the notes will no longer be legal tender in the country.

On Tuesday, Governor Godwin Emefiele of the CBN reiterated the apex bank’s stance after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja.

The governor stressed that the time given to Nigerians was enough to return their old notes for new ones.

Saying this, he added that kidnapping and ransom-taking had reduced since the three banknotes were redesigned.

Many Nigerians have, however, lamented the unavailability and scarcity of the new notes, decrying that banks, up till today, were still giving out the old naira notes to customers with the deadline only a few days away.

Meanwhile, the CBN, in its efforts to ensure that everyone is carried along, embarked on a cash swap programme nationwide to enable those in the unbanked areas to exchange their old notes before the January 31 deadline; however, excluding Lagos and Abuja mobile money/Point of Sales operators from the programme.

The CBN also recently ordered commercial banks to immediately stop over-the-counter withdrawal of the new notes and load their Automated Teller Machines with the redesigned naira notes to boost its circulation.

However, despite all these efforts, bank customers have continued to lament the scarcity of the new notes.

Source: punchng.com

#CBN

#old notes