The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s apex bank, says it will sanction any money deposit bank that refuses to load its Automated Teller Machines (ATM) with the new naira notes.
Osita Nwanisobi, director of corporate communications at CBN, stated this Thursday in Ariaria International Market, Aba, Abia State, at an awareness and sensitisation programme to educate the public on the redesigned naira notes.
Nwanisiobi said that all banks have been directed to issue the new notes through ATMs, rather than over the counter.
He said that all commercial banks must load and only issue the new notes on ATMs, to drive circulation well before the January 31, 2023 deadline.
The CBN director advised traders to quickly deposit all their old notes, warning that there is no chance that the January 31,2023 deadline for withdrawal of old naira notes will be extended.
Citing reasons why the apex bank introduced the new notes, he said out of the N3.26 trillion cash circulating in the economy, about N 2.7 trillion is outside the banking system, a situation he noted is crippling the economy.
Read also: Traders raise concern over scarcity of new naira
“We have too much cash outside the banking system. There are so many people hoarding the notes and we want this cash to come into the system.”
“People hoard billions of naira in their houses and that’s not good for the economy. We want all the cash to be into the system”, he said.
He equally said that the CBN Act permits them to change the naira every eight years, stressing that most of the cash in circulation is nearly mutilated and that the apex bank needed to create a new note to make things better.
Nwanisiobi, however, warned traders against abusing the new notes, stressing that the security of the notes has been enhanced and abusers will face penalties.
He urged Nigerians to report any bank whose ATM is still issuing the old notes through the apex bank email address.
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