CBN Governor announce new Naira ready for issuance

•House of rep suspend new cash limits on withdrawals

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has said that the new redesigned Naira  notes are ready for issuance and have already been taken to the banks. 

This information was contained in a statement released on the CBN’s official twitter handle. Emefiele also made this known in Daura while on a visit to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the Naira redesign and the recently reintroduced cashless policy.

He stated clearly that the CBN was targeting no one with the currency redesign and the reintroduction of cashless policies but are working for the good and development of the Nigerian economy.

He urged Nigerians to embrace the various electronic channels available for banking and financial service transactions in Nigeria.

“The newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes are now in banks and ready for issuance to members of the public.

“The currency redesign and reintroduced cashless policies are not targeted at anybody but are for the good and development of the Nigerian economy.

”The CBN deferred the cashless policy severally to prepare and deepen Nigerias payment system infrastructure,” he said.

Emefiele advised Nigerians to take their old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes to the banks before the January 31st, 2023, deadline.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had  reported the plans of the apex bank to redesign certain denominations of the Naira during its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on October 26th.

Thus, December 15th was set as the official start date for the circulation of the new naira notes, which President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled on November 23th.

Recently, the CBN also issued a revised cash withdrawal policy, stating that cash withdrawals above N100,000 and N500,000 for individuals and corporate organisations will henceforth attract five per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

Though the House of Representatives on Thursday,December 8th,plenary asked the CBN to suspend implementation of the cash withdrawal policy.

The legislators asked Emefiele to appear next Thursday, to explain to the House on the impact and significance of the new policy.

The suspension is to last pending the outcome of the expected engagement with the House on the compliance with the relevant sections of the CBN act and the 1999 constitution on the monetary policies of the CBN.