Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday unveiled a new design for the N200, N500 and N1000 currency notes. The release of the new design initially set for mid-December is coming earlier than expected as Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele said earlier this week that Buhari had “graciously accepted the invitation to unveil them sooner.”
What they are saying
Emefiele at the unveiling told journalists that financial agencies would be monitoring the new notes and will put a restriction on the volume of cash that can be withdrawn at commercial banks. This is to curb the circulation of excess cash and tackle crime.
Why it matters
This activity is to keep Nigerians apprised of the deadline of January 31st 2023 for current N200, N500 and N1000 notes to remain as legal tenders.
Quick catch-up
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, shocked citizens in October when he announced the plans of the apex bank to introduce new designs of the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes by December 15th 2022.
The proposed plan aims at mopping up excess cash and combating inflation and insecurity by forcing Nigerians to add currencies currently in circulation into the banking system. The period of exchange would run from December 15th 2022 – January 31st 2022.
Since the announcement, the Naira has crashed ridiculously as people seeking to hide their huge stack of cash from financial institutions in the country have opted to convert Nigeria’s Naira to forex.