The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele has said the newly redesigned Naira notes are already in banks and ready for issuance.
According to multiple tweets on CBN’s official handle, Emefiele made the statement at Daura while on a visit to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the Naira redesign and the recently reintroduced cashless policy.
He said that the currency redesign and reintroduced cashless policies were not targeted at anybody but were for the good and development of the Nigerian economy.
The CBN governor 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 Nigeria’s payments system infrastructure,” he said.
Emefiele advised Nigerians to take their old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes to the banks before January 31, 2023, deadline.
The apex bank had announced plans to redesign certain denominations of the Naira during its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Oct. 26.
It, thus, set Dec. 15 as the official start date for the circulation of the new naira notes, which Buhari unveiled on Nov. 23.
The CBN also, recently, 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.