Stephen Dunmoye
Following complaints by bank customers as they were unable to access the new notes the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has instructed all the Commercial Banks to load their ATMs with just N200 of the new notes across the country.
Some bank customers expressed surprise when they were unable to get the new notes across the counters.
Meanwhile, CBN had insisted that there will be no extension of the timeline for customers to deposit their old naira notes before the end of January 31, 2023.
Experts however, said the bank may be compelled to extend the deadline following the scarcity of the new naira notes.
Business Editor of the Nigerian Xpress, Emeka Okoroanyanwu said the banks have no choice but to extend the deadline considering the paucity of new notes in circulation.
According to him, “Where did you see the new notes? This calls for an extension. A lot of people’s businesses will suffer due to scarcity. Small businesses still depend heavily on cash transactions.”
Findings reveal that Nigerians are still spending the old naira notes instead of returning them to the banks as the deadline nears.
It is also reported that several banks have stopped Saturday banking which they began in November last year in order to meet the CBN deadline.
According to the CBN, the new move has led to the reduction of cash in circulation by 3.95 per cent from N3.29 billion to N3.16 billion.
Additionally, currency outside the banking system declined by 6.69 per cent to N2.65 billion in November 2022, compared to N3.29 billion in October 2022, when the announcement for the redesigning of the new notes was made.
Despite the order by CBN to load only lower denominations of the new naira notes on ATMs, many of them still dispense higher denominations.