The Central Bank of Nigeria’s planned new naira notes have been introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari.
On Wednesday morning, before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the state palace in Abuja, Buhari displayed the new banknotes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (BN) Godwin Emefiele was present for the unveiling ceremony.
The Central Bank of Nigeria declared its intention to redesign all major naira notes in October, according to The Premier News.
Read: Today, the CBN raises interest rates as Buhari unveils redesigned naira notes.
It specified that the new notes would begin to circulate on December 15, 2022.
To reduce counterfeiting, manage inflation, and reduce the amount of currency in circulation, the central bank declared that it will redesign the naira notes.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, has stated that “these issues principally include: Significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics suggesting that over 85% of cash in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks.”
To be more specific, according to the CBN’s figures as of the end of September 2022, the general population was said to hold N2.73 trillion of the N3.23 trillion in money in circulation outside the country’s commercial banks’ vaults.
Evidently, the amount of money in circulation has increased significantly during 2015, from N1.46 trillion in December to N3.23 trillion in September. We must allow this concerning tendency to continue.
The bank claimed that due to concerns about Nigerians living in rural regions and in light of the short deadline for presenting the old notes, it had created provisions for a straightforward exchange.
The bank asserted that it was working with relevant financial system organizations during implementation to make sure that vulnerable citizens weren’t harmed.
“The Bank recognizes that financial access points and alternative banking channels may not be equally distributed across all geopolitical zones and in some rural areas, despite the gradual increase in these over the years (electronic/internet banking, mobile apps, ATM, Cards/PoS, eNaira, agent banking, etc.).
On November 1, the Apex Bank said in a statement, “In operationalizing this program, the CBN has been engaging with relevant agencies and other players in the financial system in its execution, particularly ensuring that disadvantaged persons are not disenfranchised.”
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