CBN sets date for release of redesigned notes

The N200, N500, and N1,000 notes now in use will no longer be legal tender on January 31, 2023, according to a countdown clock posted on the Central Bank of Nigeria's website.

The Naira redesign policy, which the apex bank had stated, called for the printing of new notes in the N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations for the three circulating Naira notes.

The formal launch date for the circulation of the new naira notes had been established by the CBN for December 15, 2022.

It said that from December 15, 2022, to January 31, 2023, both the old notes and the new notes would be accepted as legal money.

The top bank declared that as of January 31, 2023, the old notes would no longer be accepted as legal money.

The Central Bank of Nigeria asked Nigerians to deposit the denominations that would be redesigned at their respective banks, noting that the banks would be open for business every week from Monday through Saturday. Additionally, it stated that bank charges on deposits had been stopped for the time frame and that there was no cap on the amount that may be deposited at one time.

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had claimed that people were hoarding naira notes, and statistics showed that more than 80% of the cash in circulation was not kept in commercial banks' vaults.

In September 2022, a total of N3.2 trillion was in circulation, of which N2.73 trillion was outside the bank vaults. He described this situation as unacceptable.

According to The PUNCH, the Nigerian Senate approved the CBN's naira redesign program last week with a resolution that would support it legally while also requiring parliamentary monitoring.