CBN Accuses Banks Of Hoarding New Notes, Announce Cash Swap Programme

CBN has accused some commercial banks of hoarding new notes. 

NewsOnline reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has accused some commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, of refusing to dispense the sum of N4.5 billion redesigned notes distributed to them.

The apex bank had disbursed about N4.5b of the new naira notes to commercial banks in the state between Thursday and Friday, wondering why many customers were not getting them.

The controller of the CBN branch in Rivers State, Maxwell Okafor, disclosed this on Friday when he led an enforcement team on the newly redesigned notes to some commercial banks and markets in Port Harcourt.

Okafor expressed concern that some banks in the state were thwarting the CBN’s efforts to enforce the disbursement of the new naira notes by hoarding them in their bank vaults.

READ ALSO: CBN Reveals Heavy Amount To Fine Banks Daily Over New Currency Notes

“We have been monitoring the dispensing of the new naira note, and the impression we had is not encouraging. We have visited some banks, and one of them was not dispensing the new naira notes,” he said.

CBN announces cash swap across 774 LGAs

Meanwhile, the CBN has initiated a cash-swap programme across the 774 local government areas of the country as part of its implementation of the Naira redesign policy.

The initiative between CBN, Deposits Money Banks, DMBs, and Super Agents would commence on January 23 2023, to exchange the new naira notes with old notes.

CBN insisted on the January 31 2023, deadline for the old naira notes to cease to be legal tender.

However, the CBN sent out a circular signed by Haruna Mustafa, Director Banking Supervision Department and Musa I. Jimoh, Director, Payment System Management Department to all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Super Agents and Agents.