The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has inaugurated a countdown clock on its website for the January 31, 2023, deadline for the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes currently in circulation.
It was learnt this on Monday when it visited the apex bank’s website.
Recall that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele on October 26, had announced a Naira redesign policy to produce new notes for three of the naira denominations in circulation: N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
The new notes, according to Emiefele, would address persisting concerns with the management of the current series of banknotes and currency in circulation — particularly those outside the banking system. These challenges primarily include significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 percent of the currency in circulation is outside the vaults of commercial banks.
Though the CBN’s naira redesign announcement has received both kudos and knocks, the CBN insisted on proceeding with its implementation to sanitize the country’s economy.
The move by CBN seems to have buried the hope for a possible extension of the implementation deadline