By NewsBits
Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria have been directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to load their automated teller machines (ATMs) with the redesigned naira notes in a bid to boost circulation. The CBN further ordered the banks to suspend dispensing the new currency notes over the counter.
Disclosing this via a phone chat on Saturday, Osita Nwasinobi, CBN’s spokesperson, said the new directive took effect immediately, explaining that the attention of the CBN was drawn to complaints from Nigerians who had not been able to access the redesigned notes since the banks started dispensing them on December 15, 2022.
The CBN spokesperson said the directive was given to increase the circulation of the new naira notes across the country ahead of the January 31, 2023, deadline to phase out the old notes.
Said Nwasinobi: “The CBN is concerned about claims by Nigerians that they had not come in contact with the new notes and therefore, directed the banks to ensure that they load their ATMs with new notes. This will ensure quick and wider circulation of the new notes across Nigeria”.
Responding to the claim that the new notes were in short supply in banks, Nwasinobi described it as “false”. Meanwhile, it was observed while visiting some commercial banks in Lagos, that new Naira notes were dispensed over the counter alongside the old notes. But some banks also resorted to rationing them as they grappled with limited supply.
Nwasinobi however said, “That is not the correct position. We have enough supplies in line with the indent for the period”. He accused some citizens of attempting to swap large volumes of existing notes for new notes in banks.
He added, “The report we have is that some persons want to swap the amounts they have, which is not the objective of the currency redesign. For instance, a customer brings in N2million in cash and expects to get the same volume in the new currency. If the banks accede to such requests, it will be tantamount to leaving the challenge of excess cash unaddressed.”
