Banks obey Supreme Court, issue old naira notes

Yesterday, a few commercial banks started issuing old N500 and N1000 bills to the general population.

The action was taken in response to a Supreme Court decision that extended the expiration date of the banknotes to December 31, 2023.

Another event is that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said yesterday that the total repayments made under its Anchor Borrowers' Programme (ABP) totaled N503 billion, or 52.39 percent of the total exposure.

According to THISDAY, businesses in Abuja and other locations continued to refuse the old denominations due to the lack of a statement from President Muhammadu Buhari or the apex regarding the issuance of the old banknotes to customers.

Since the Supreme Court's decision, the central bank has not released any more clarifications or instructions, which has led the financial community to exercise prudence with regard to the old notes.

According to THISDAY, several GTBank and Access Bank branches in Abuja still handed out obsolete banknotes. People were reportedly withdrawing the old N1000 and N500 notes from Sterling Bank and Access Bank's ATMs at Iyana Ipaja in Lagos.

However, as almost none of the Point of Sale (POS) operators had cash on hand when the check was written, there was still a severe cash shortage throughout the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Thisday was informed by a POS operator that it was disgusting to wait around banking facilities only to get paid between N2000 and N5000 at the end of the day.

Results also showed that POS operators rarely exchanged cash and frequently used online money transfers.

Experts, however, predicted that after the apex court's ruling, cash availability and circulation would significantly improve. They also hoped that after the general election was over next week, monetary policy would be changed in a way that would increase the flow of money throughout the economy.

Many think that the banking public's apathy may be reduced if the court's decision was made clear and specific.

Source