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CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele has revealed that roughly N1 trillion in soon-to-be-replaced notes has been received through the banking system to be swapped for new notes which become effective Jan 31, 2023
The Governor of the Central Bank made this revelation in Daura, Katsina State, while briefing journalists after he met with President Buhari.
Emefiele, has ruled the possibility of reversing the ongoing implementation of cashless policy.
The House of Representatives at Thursday plenary asked the CBN Governor to suspend implementation of the policy pending the outcome of the expected engagement on the compliance with the relevant sections of the CBN act and the 1999 constitution on the monetary policies of the apex bank.
He was asked to appear Thursday next week to explain to the House on the impact and significance of the new policy.
On Wednesday, the Senate raised concerns about the latest CBN policy on cash withdrawals and fixed Tuesday to debate the new policy.
But speaking with State House reporters after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on happenings in the CBN and the Nigerian economy in Daura, Katsina State, on Thursday, Emefiele said a lot of electronic channels had been put in place in 10 years since the cashless policy was launched in 2012.
He said the cashless policy was stepped down on a number of occasions to fully prepare for the implementation of the policy and deepen payment system infrastructure in Nigeria.
He said the visit was to assure the President that all plans on the currency and cashless policy were “going on well.”.
On the redesign of currency notes, the CBN governor said the banks had started dispensing the new cash which reached their various offices on Wednesday to their customers.
“I can only just assure you that it will go round, let us just be calm, luckily the old currency continued to be legal tender till January 31, 2023. So, I want to crack a joke, both the painted (new notes) and unpainted (old notes) will operate concurrently as a legal tender. But by January 31, the unpainted one will not be useful to you again, so please take it to your bank as quickly as possible,” he added.
Emefiele said about N1 trillion of the old notes had been returned to the banking system.
On what the CBN would do about the policy after the Senate kicked against the withdrawal limit, he said: “The Senate of the Federal Republic is National Assembly, they are legislative arm of the government and from time to time we brief them about what is happening and about our policies and I am aware that they have asked for some briefings and we will brief them.”