Currency Redesign: N2.7trn still hidden in some Nigerians’ homes – Emefiele

GOVERNOR of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele on on February 3, 2023 said the sum of N2.7 trillion is still hidden in many Nigerian homes, despite the call to return old notes of N200, N500 and N1000.

Emefiele gave the information while fielding questions from journalists on the current crisis being faced by Nigerians in accesssing money from commercial banks and point-of-sale merchants.

He noted that the hidden N2.7 trillion outside the banking vault (not monitored as currency in circulation) had created crisis in Nigeria’s macroeconomics and monetary policy.

“This is why we are appealing to Nigerians to remain calm with us as we resolve challenges of access of the new notes before the set deadline,” he said.

He assured that the current pains being faced by Nigerians would be temporary, while he called for an end to the protest and destruction of banking halls, as noticed in some parts of the country.

“Don’t descend to wanton destruction of bank properties. Those properties are there to serve you. At the moment, we are facing this temporary and transient situation and we crave everyone to remain calm,” Emefiele appealed.

He said that the apex bank was monitoring the situation real-time through the cash and electronic channels.

“We cannot run away from the fact that bank channels can be down sometimes, but we are assuring you that through our consumer protection unit, we are communicatting with the banks and resolving the issues,” he said.

He also called on petrol stations and other essential service providers not to reject transfers from customers, amid concerns of poor network and difficulties in accessing cash.

The gaps in the policy since its initiation has led to scarcity of both the old and new currency, which has led to more than 100 per cent hike in the transaction cost for withdrawal through PoS.

Emefiele, however, assured Nigerians that the consumer protection unit of the apex bank was working to resolve the current challenge.

He disclosed that top CBN officials were in the field to facilitate cash-swap policies (swapping the new notes for the old ones) in some communities.