Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), indicated that the bank would issue newly designed Naira notes by December 15, 2022.
Additionally, he stated that as of January 31, 2023, existing notes would cease to be considered as legal money.
This was mentioned by Emefiele on Wednesday, October 26, in Abuja during a news conference.
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The CBN expressed concern about the fact that Nigerians are hoarding 85% of the cash in circulation.
He also asked Nigerians to deposit their Naira notes at their banks, noting that deposits of less than N150,000 will not be charged a deposit fee.
Emefiele noted that the redesign of Naira notes would prevent terrorism and kidnapping ransom payments as well as reduce the use of counterfeit notes.
The CBN Governor said: “Bank charges for cash deposit are suspended with immediate effect.”
He further disclosed that over 80 per cent of the total cash in circulation was outside the banking system.
“N2.73 trillion out of N3.23 trn exists outside the commercial bank,” he added.
