February 10 Deadline still stands on Old Naira Notes – Emefiele

Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has stated that the February 10 deadline for the circulation of old naira notes remains in place.

On Tuesday, Emefiele briefed the diplomatic community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.

“The situation has significantly improved since the implementation of over-the-counter payments to supplement ATM withdrawals and the use of super-agents. As a result, there is no reason to consider deviating from the February 10 deadline,” he said.

Naira Scarcity: CBN asked banks to pay new notes over the counter

The clarification follows confusion over the supreme court order that extended the deadline to February 15, pending the court’s hearing.

Bank receive N30 million each of new naira notes daily CBN

Nigerians were bemused on Monday when commercial banks refused to accept the old notes at their branches.

Emefiele went on to say, “Some of our leaders are buying the new notes and storing them for whatever purpose, and I will not explain further on that.”

CBN deadline: No scarcity of new naira notes Godwin Emefiele

Emefiele stated that the apex bank recognizes Nigerians’ suffering, noting that effective policy implementation could eliminate 4% of the inflation figures.

He went on to say that the ideal amount of cash in circulation should be around N700 billion.

“Even if we say N1 trillion should be in circulation, we cannot refloat N3.7 trillion into circulation,” he stated.

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