On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced its plans to re-design the 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes.
We have put together some key findings that you should know about the naira re-design as well as what you will need to do before the new naira notes take effect.
Why the New Bank Notes?
- To control currency in circulation and tighten money supply to address the issue of rising inflation which hits a 17-year high in September 2022.
- Address hoarding of banknotes by members of the public with over 80% of currency in circulation outside the vaults of commercial banks.
- Take care of the worsening shortage of clean and fit banknotes
- Address the issue of counterfeiting of naira notes evidenced by several reports.
- Minimize the incidence of terrorism and kidnapping as access to large sums of cash used for ransom will be reduced
- Deepen CBN drive to entrench a cashless economy and financial inclusion (Banking the unbanked)
What You Need to Know
- The Central Bank of Nigeria will change the current N200, N500 and N1000 currency denominations to new currency notes.
- The new currency notes have gone into circulation earlier than the original date first proposed which was December 15th, 2022.
- The old notes shall seize to be legal tender by January 31, 2023.
- Banks have been advised to keep all their deposit centres open from Monday to Saturday going forward for collections.
- There are no limits to how much an individual or corporate body can deposit and no bank customer shall bear any charges for cash returned /paid into their account during the implantation period.
- New cashless policy to be announced in January 2023.
What You Need to Do
- Visit your nearest branch to deposit all your old banknotes [N200, N500 and N1000].
- If you do not have a bank account, visit the nearest bank branch to open one and deposit all old banknotes. [N200, N500 and N1000].
- Perform normal bank transactions with your bank app or USSD.
We hope the above information helps you prepare your personal and business finances ahead of the re-design of the naira to avoid getting stuck with old naira notes.
NB: It should be noted that the senate has pledged to provide legislative support for the policy, however, some of the lawmakers have called on the leadership of CBN to extend the deadline for Nigerians to change their old naira notes to new ones stating that it might take time for people in the rural areas to get their monies to the bank.