The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says plans to gradually
phase out the old N200, N500, and N1,000 naira notes are ongoing, as new notes
are still being issued.
Folashodun Shonubi, acting governor of the apex bank, spoke
on Tuesday after the monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting at the CBN
headquarters in Abuja.
In October 2022, Godwin Emefiele, former CBN governor,
announced plans to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 naira bills.
Emefiele had asked Nigerians to deposit their old notes
before January 31, 2023, when they would cease to be legal tender.
The CBN later said Muhammadu Buhari, the former president,
had approved an extension of the deadline for the demonetisaton of the old
notes.
But in March 2023, the supreme court invalidated the naira
redesign policy introduced by the central bank, ruling that the old N200, N500,
and N1,000 notes would remain as legal tender until December 31, 2023.
Providing updates on the demonetisation policy on Tuesday,
Shonubi said the old notes would “slowly, and overtime be replaced”.
He noted that the old notes were being exchanged for the new
ones whenever it was being requested by the commercial banks.
“When a currency is printed and sent out. It is expected
that it will go through a number of cycles, and then over time, will become one
and then be replaced. That’s what we’re doing,” Shonubi said.
“We had to put out or re-put out old notes. And as they’re
coming in, they’re being processed and returned to us as not issuable. We are
then bringing out and replacing them with the new notes.
“We believe that we have an optimal level of the currency
out there and so much of what’s being done is replacement to keep the level,
rather than just putting money out there.
“And that is seen by
the fact that the banks, whenever they come to us for notes, we provide it to
them. If it wasn’t enough, they will be asking us for more. If it was too much,
they’ll be dumping that much more on us.
“So, we will slowly, and over time you will see the old
notes replaced out of the system with the new notes that’ll be the norm.
“This will be out of practice, not fanfare, you’ll just see
it slowly morph from old to new.”
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