The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive to commercial banks to pay out the newly redesigned naira notes to customers over the counter.
This move is aimed at alleviating the difficulties that Nigerians are facing in accessing the new notes and reducing the long queues at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) nationwide.
According to a statement from the CBN, the bank is working to address the challenges with access to the redesigned naira notes and has noticed an upward trend in the cases of people stocking and aggregating the new banknotes from ATMs. The CBN has urged the public to exercise patience as it is working to resolve the queue issue at ATMs.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned naira notes over the counter, subject to a daily payout limit of N20,000.
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“We have equally noticed the queues at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country and an upward trend in the cases of people stocking and aggregating the newly introduced banknotes they serially obtain from ATMs for reasons best known to them,” said Osita Nwanisobi, director of corporate communications at the CBN in a statement on Thursday.
“We also admonish members of the public to embrace and adopt other payment channels for their transactions.”
This latest development is one of several reversals made by the CBN since announcing the naira redesign policy in October last year.
The CBN had previously ordered deposit money banks (DMBs) to stop issuing the notes over the counter.
However, this directive, along with other restrictions in the policy, has caused difficulties for Nigerians who are trying to deposit their old notes (N200, N500, and N1,000) before the deadline on February 10th, 2023.
