The Central Bank of Nigeria has reiterated its dedication to gradually discontinuing the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in favour of releasing new money.
The Monetary Policy Committee met on Tuesday at the CBN headquarters in Abuja, where the acting governor of the top bank, Folashodun Shonubi, announced this pronouncement.
The previous governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, announced plans to revamp the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in October 2022.
He urged Nigerians to participate in the exercise by depositing their old notes by January 31, 2023, as they would no longer be accepted as legal cash after that date. The CBN then revealed that Muhammadu Buhari, the former president, had authorised a delay in the deadline for the demonetization of the old notes.
However, the Supreme Court declared the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to be legal tender until December 31, 2023, invalidating the central bank’s naira redesign strategy in March 2023.
The old notes would be gradually replaced over time, according to Folashodun Shonubi, who updated attendees on the demonetisation strategy at the most recent MPC meeting.
The old notes are exchanged for the new ones whenever commercial banks request new currency, guaranteeing a seamless changeover, he explained.
Shonubi explained, “When a currency is printed and sent out, it is expected to go through a number of cycles and be replaced over time. That’s what we’re doing. We are slowly and over time replacing the old notes with new ones.”
The goal of the CBN’s strategy is to maintain a healthy level of currency circulation while ensuring a smooth replacement process without causing any hiccups to the financial system. Shonubi underlined that the changeover from the old to the new notes will take place quietly so that Nigerians could observe the progressive transformation of the country’s monetary system.
Stakeholders are intently watching the developments in Nigeria’s monetary system as the CBN continues its attempts to launch new currency while gradually phasing out the old notes.
