African news. The German embassy declared it would stop accepting old banknotes from Nigerians 22 days before the deadline causing a stir among old banknotes holders.
The date posted indicated that the deadline was indeed 22 days earlier that the 31st of January deadline announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria that old notes would still be considered legal tender.
CBN in a message to Nigerians had asked Nigerians to return all old 200, 500 and 1000 notes before the deadline as it won’t be extended. Commercial banks are rationing the new Naira notes they have received from the CBN as many customers are keen to hold the redesigned notes.
Upto now, only a few customers that make over-the-counter withdrawals have been able to have a few of the new notes while ATM machines are still dispense the old notes.
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The deputy governor in charge of financial system stability, Aisha Ahmad, said the CBN ordered the printing of only 500 million pieces of new naira notes in the first contract, which rolled out last week, December 15, 2022.
She also noted that Nigerians will have to do more with e-transactions as over time the circulation of N500 and N1000 notes will reduce.
More than 80 percent of the 3.2 trillion naira ($7.2bn) in circulation in Nigeria are outside the vaults of commercial banks and in private hands, said Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
With inflation at a 17-year high of 21.09 percent that is driven by soaring food prices, he said the new notes “will bring the hoarded currencies back into the banking system” and help the central bank regain control of the money being used in the country.
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