CBN BEGINS MONITORING, DISBURSEMENT OF OLD NOTES, SETS TWO-WEEK TARGET TO RESTORE NORMALCY
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Agency Report
In an effort to alleviate the severe currency shortage that has caused anguish to millions of bank clients nationwide, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday started distributing old naira notes to Deposit Money Banks.
Following a meeting between the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and bank chief executive officers on Wednesday, the central bank had instructed DMBs to collect old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes at its offices across the country for subsequent payments to consumers.
According to information obtained by our correspondents on Thursday, commercial banks obtained old naira notes from CBN branches all over the nation.
There has been confirmation from numerous bank sources, including CEOs and top executives, that the apex bank delivered old notes to banks.
“I can confirm to you that we received old notes from the CBN today, we also received a memo from the central bank to this effect,” the CEO of a commercial bank told The PUNCH on condition of anonymity.
Also, a general manager at a tier-2 bank told one of our correspondents that the lender got some old notes from the central bank on Thursday.
“The CBN has started giving us old notes. However, it will take some time for the currency to circulate,” a top official of a mid-size bank confirmed to one of our correspondents on Thursday.
However, top bank officials said it would take about two weeks for the situation to normalize, adding that bank queues might not disappear until later next week.
They also hope to pay N500,000 per customer by next week.
“The situation will not normalise immediately. The impact will begin to be felt on Friday. Overall, things should normalise between one and two weeks,” a top bank executive told The PUNCH because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
Bank workers union also said the situation might not normalize immediately.
Also, the National President, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, Mr Olusoji Oluwole, said, “Until recently, the volume of the old currency released to banks has been minimal. This coupled with panic withdrawal by customers, and the restriction of daily withdrawal limits by the CBN has caused continued rationing. However, with the announcement yesterday by the CBN to pump more cash into the system, we hope the pressure will ease by next week if the CBN keeps to this promise.”
However, findings by The PUNCH showed that only a few banks began disbursements on Thursday. It was learnt that several bank branches got the funds from the CBN very late. As such, they could not begin the disbursement.
But the CBN has reportedly concluded plans to dispatch a team of officials to monitor compliance on the part of banks.
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