Emefiele on extending Feb 10 deadline for old notes

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday, said there was no need to extend the February 10 sunset date for the old naira notes, as efforts are in top gear to ensure more redesigned notes are available nationwide, in addition to alternative banking channels.

Emefiele made the disclosure when he unfolded the apex bank’s monetary policy programmes to members of the diplomatic community in Abuja. According to him, several strategic steps were taken before venturing into the currency redesign programme.

His position is coming after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, amid an existing Supreme Court interim order kicking against implementing the currency redesign programme, though the CBN was not a party to the suit.  

Emefiele said: “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10. He warned Point-of-Sale (POS) agents who charge above N200 for cash swap to immediately desist from such dastard acts as culprits will be arrested and visited with the full weight of the law.

The CBN Governor further stated that the PoS operators can come to the CBN to be compensated for any extra cost incurred in getting the new notes rather than peppering hapless customers with ridiculously inflated charges.

Emefiele called on the ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic community to support its cashless policy blueprint, which comes with numerous sovereign benefits, especially in economy and security.

He revealed that Nigeria was among the six leading nations with the best  electronic payment infrastructure in the world.
Emefiele added that Nigeria, being the biggest economy in Africa, should not be addicted to cash spending with all its demerits.

“Nigerians carry so much cash and it is wrong. We want to be like the advanced countries. Being the biggest economy in Africa, we should go cashless.

“Yes, there will be transient and temporary pains. It’s temporary. I appeal to the diplomatic corps to help us be like you. We should not encourage handling cash that could easily be used for illicit purposes and hurt monetary policy administration.

“In 2015, N1.4 trillion was in circulation but by October 2022, N3.2 trillion was in circulation and out of this figure, N2.7 trillion was in people’s homes, while N500 billion was in the banks.The money outside the banks grew because we asked banks to report suspicious transactions above certain thresholds. When such are reported, the NFIU, EFCC and ICPC are obligated to pick the persons involved and investigate. 

“When CBN releases money, it should circulate and return to the CBN. The money in homes is not available in the economy in reality and that’s not right”, he explained.

The CBN had set February 10, 2023 deadline for the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes to stop being legal tender in Nigeria.

Source- The Sun