Why we Insisted on Jan 31 for Old Naira Notes — CBN Gov

Despite public calls to extend the deadline, The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has stated that the old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes will no longer be legal tender in the country after the January 31 deadline.

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

Emefiele, while responding to questions from journalists on whether the apex bank would extend the deadline, said the CBN with the  Presidency felt that 100 days was enough for people who had old notes to deposit these monies in the bank.

He noted that the bank took several measures and embarked on various strategies to accepting the old notes.

“We do not see any reason for a shift or extension because we did enough to encourage Nigerians to bring these old notes to the bank. At the initial stage, we observed that banks were paying these new notes to their priority customers and we ordered them to stop over-the-counter withdrawals and told them to dispense these notes via their ATMs. That worked but when the new notes finishes, we told them to put in the old notes to ensure that customers can still withdraw money to go about their needs.

We then changed tactic and mandated them to dispense only new notes because we disbursed large volumes of new Notes to them which is currently running”, He said

His word: “There is an adequate quantity of new notes available for collection at the ATMs. Are we producing? Yes, our mint is producing and we are supplying them to the banks. This is a process and we have already embarked on strategies to help the weak and vulnerable Nigerian. Our sensitization programmes, use of super agents for cash swaps, and exchanges will continue even after January 31.

“So money is circulating in these communities as well as the rural areas. This, we will not be extending the deadline. We will make sure these new notes circulate the country and that is our focus for now.”, the CBN Governor said.

Meanwhile, borrowing is set to get more expensive as the MPC of the CBN voted on Tuesday to continue its increase in the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 17.5 per cent.

The two-day meeting which was attended by CBN’s 12 MPC members believes the new interest rate will curb the accelerating rate of inflation and improve Nigeria’s exchange rate.

Some analysts had expected the CBN to hold rates steady after raising the interest rates four times last year to combat rising inflation.

However, Emefiele said the decision of the MPC include; increasing the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 100 basis points to 17.5 per cent while an asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR was retained.