Following the redesign of naira notes and cash exchange program, the Central Bank of Nigeria said that it recovered N1.9 trillion in money from outside the banking system in only two months.

Following a meeting with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, January 29, 2023, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele provided this information (retd.).

Following the introduction of new naira notes, Emefiele pointed out that the central bank had been able to lower the amount of cash outside the banking system from a staggering N2.7 trillion to N900 billion.

The new naira notes, which come in denominations of N200, N500, and N1,000, were introduced by President Buhari in November 2022 with the goals of reducing counterfeiting, enhancing the impact of monetary policy instruments on inflation, and removing surplus liquidity.

Emefiele said, “Ladies and gentlemen, available data at the Central Bank of Nigeria has shown that in 2015, currency in circulation was only N1.4 trillion.

“As of October 2022, currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion out of which only N500 billion was within the banking industry and N2.7 trillion held permanently in people’s homes.

“Ordinarily, when the CBN releases currency into circulation, it is meant to be used and after effluxion of time, it returns to the CBN thereby keeping the volume of currency in circulation under the firm control of the CBN.

“So far and since the commencement of this programme, we have collected about N1.9 trillion.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched the Nigerian National Domestic Card Scheme, AfriGo, aimed at creating a more robust payment system that would drive financial inclusion in the country.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the card, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said that transaction charges on all cards would henceforth be paid in Naira, except for international transactions.

He said AfriGo is cheaper and would be a matter of national pride.

Emefiele said while the penetration of card payments in Nigeria had grown tremendously over the years, many Nigerians were still excluded.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has relaxed its cash withdrawal policy on two hundred naira, Five hundred naira and one thousand naira being the highest denomination to be dispensed at the Automated Teller Machines, ATMs.

The apex said it had intensified efforts to ramp up the circulation of the new notes. The bank, also yesterday, reiterated that there would be no extension of the January 31 deadline for the return of old N200, N500, and N1, 000 notes to the banks.

The CBN also said it will be monitoring commercial banks to ensure that they comply with the directive of loading all the redesigned naira notes in their ATMs.

The CBN Director, of Currency Operations, Ahmed Umar, made this known at the training session for state directors of the National Orientation Agency, NOA in Abuja.

“Banks are barred from distributing the new notes over the counter. All new notes must go to the ATMs. The directive to the banks from the central bank is that they must dispense through their ATMs nationwide and people can go to the ATMs to collect the money. They cannot dispense the new notes across the counter for now until they exhaust the new notes. And when that happens they can then upload the old notes. Until they get another supply of new notes.

“That is the only way  to ensure that the new notes are being circulated. Otherwise, what the banks were doing from our intelligence, was that they were holding the cash and giving it to high profile individuals and customers over-the-counter and not circulating it to ordinary customers. So, we decided they must only dispense it through ATM machines for now until it fully circulates in the financial system.”