Officials of the Imo branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Wednesday visited Owerri relief market to sensitise traders on the need to deposit their old notes in the banks before the January 31 deadline.
The exercise is part of efforts to introduce the newly-redesigned naira notes to the traders and urged them to accept them as legal tender.
Addressing the traders, the Branch Manager, Mrs Boma Oruwari, said that the banknotes that were being phased out remain legal tender till January 31, 2023.
She said that as such, they should not be rejected as a means of exchange for the purchase of goods and services.
According to her, the old notes were phased out for a variety of reasons, including shortage of clean and fit bank notes, counterfeiting, high cost of cash management and abuse of the naira.
“These issues and challenges made the Central Bank to change and redesign the higher denominations of N1,000, N500 and N200 bank notes.
“Now that we have changed and redesigned these higher denominations, we are here in relief market to explain that only three of the current eight denominations were redesigned;
“All other banknotes, N5, N10, N20, N50, and N100 are not affected and the decision of the CBN to redesign three denominations of the naira is not targeted at any group or persons,” she said.
The branch manager also said that the current banknotes that were being phased out will circulate side by side with the redesigned banknotes till the deadline.
She also said that there were no limit to the amount individuals or corporate bodies can deposit during the transition period and no charges on bank deposits.
“Visit your commercial bank to deposit the old notes. Those without bank accounts are encouraged to visit banks of their choice to open accounts.
“Account opening is easy. You can also approach the nearest CBN authorized agent to make your deposit if you reside in a rural area.
“There is no limit to deposit of N1,000, N500, N200 banknotes an individual or corporate body can make during the transition, and there are no charges on bank deposits.”
She further noted that there was no outright exchange of new banknotes for old notes deposited in the commercial banks.
She also encouraged the traders to explore other payment channels such as eNaira, Point of Sale, Electronic transfers, internet Banking, Mobile money operators and agents, for banking transactions.
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