The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has announced that Nigeria will redesign its banknotes and begin the circulation in December this year.
Mr. Emefiele told a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday the bank notes that will affected include the N100, N200, N500, and N1000 and that the circulation would commence from December 15, 2022.
He explained that the newly redesigned notes and the existing currencies shall remain legal tenders and that the old currency notes will cease to be legal tenders on January 31, 2023.
Emefiele disclosed that currency management in Nigeria has been contending with such challenges as hoarding of banknotes by members of the public as over 80 percent of the currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks.
According to him, this accounts for scarcity of clean and fit banknotes, with increased risk of financial stability and increasing risk of counterfeiting.
“Indeed, recent development in photographic technology and advancements in printing devices have made counterfeiting relatively easier.
“In recent years, the CBN has recorded significantly higher rates of counterfeiting, especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1000 banknotes,”
He also said that the redesigning of the Naira notes would hamper ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers.
Emefiele stated that the global best practice is for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tenders every five to eight years, but in the case of of Nigeria, the Naira has not been redesigned in the last 20 years.
He advised Nigerians to start paying their current bank notes into their bank accounts in order to withdraw the new banknotes as soon as the circulation of new banknotes commences.
The CBN Governor directed all Deposit Money Banks to suspend with immediate effect, all bank charges for cash deposits, adding that no bank customer shall bear any charges for cash returned/paid into their accounts.
GIK/APA