FCT, Abuja (9News Nigeria) – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele has dared the National Assembly by insisting that there won’t be an extension of the January 31st deadline for the current ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes to cease being legal tender.
While addressing journalists at the end of its first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for the year, the CBN governor said there was no going back on the policy, appealing to those who still have the old notes to turn them in be- fore January 31.
The National Assembly had made a demand that the deadline for the expiration of the current ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes be extended to July 31st citing that the new notes were not adequate in circulation and that Nigerians were in for chaotic times in a bid to beat the deadline.
In contrast to the view of the National Assembly, The CBN governor, Emefiele said that about ₦1.3 trillion to ₦1.5 trillion of the old currencies had been deposited with the CBN, expressing hope that about ₦2 trillion of the old notes will have been deposited by the end of this week.
Emefiele said: “Unfortunately, I don’t have good news for those who said we should shift the deadline. My apologies.
“We believe 100 days are adequate for people to turn in their old naira notes. We do not see any reason to talk about shift because people could not deposit their old notes.”
Emefiele also argued that the Nigerian apex bank has put in place a number of measures to cater for the interest of the people in various categories.
The CBN governor said that the apex bank has unveiled a cash swap programme in partnership with Super Agents and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to enable those in either rural areas or people with limited access to formal financial services to exchange old naira bills for the new Naira bills.
He further pointed out that the CBN’s aggressive stance targets high inflation by reducing access to credit and mopping up excess liquidity.
9News Nigeria, Abuja
#9NewsNigeria #CBN #NASS
