Banks Will Continue To Accept Old Naira Notes After Deadline – Emefiele

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said banks will continue to accept old naira notes after the February 10 deadline.

Emefiele added that the apex bank will also continue to collect the old naira notes from commercial banks after the stipulated deadline.

He made this known during his appearance at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the currency redesign and naira swap policy on Tuesday in Abuja.

Emefiele made reference to Section 20, Subsection 3 of the CBN Act 2007 which mandates the apex bank to continue to accept old notes after the expiration of the deadline.

Speaking about the redesign of the naira, he said the CBN’s actions were in line with international best practices and the apex bank has to be in control of the currency in circulation.

Emefiele said in 2015 N1.4 trillion was in circulation, and by last year it had risen to N3.33 trillion.

He explained that the reason for directing banks to ensure only ATM withdrawals was to limit the daily withdrawal of individuals.

The CBN boss decried the trend of the new notes being sighted at parties and stated he was in meetings with commercial banks to mitigate these.

Emefiele agreed that the policies would hurt some persons but claimed it was in the interest of the country especially in combating insecurity.

The CBN chief, therefore, appealed to lawmakers to allow the programme to succeed.