Old Naira Notes Soon to Phase Out -CBN

By: Ashe

Central Bank of Nigeria through Folashodun Shonubi, Acting CBN Governor, on Tuesday said that plans to gradually phase out the old N200, N500, and N1,000 naira notes are ongoing, as new notes are still being issued.

He made this known after the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.

The apex bank also raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rate, from 18.5 percent to 18.75%.

Responding to questions from reporters, the acting apex bank chief said, “When a currency is printed and sent out, it is expected that it will go through a number of cycles, and then over time, will become one and then be replaced. That’s what we’re doing.

“We had to put out or re-put out old notes. And as they’re coming in, they’re being processed and returned to us as not issuable. We are then bringing out and replacing them with the new notes.”

Shonubi said there is an “optimal level of currency” in circulation and what is being done at the moment is replacing worn out notes with new ones.

“We believe that we have an optimal level of the currency out there and so much of what’s being done is replacement to keep the level, rather than just putting money out there,” he said.

“And that is seen by the fact that the banks, whenever they come to us for notes, we provide it to them. If it wasn’t enough, they will be asking us for more. If it was too much, they’ll be dumping that much more on us.

“So, we will slowly, and over time you will see the old notes replaced out of the system with the new notes that’ll be the norm.

“And that will be out of practice, not fanfare, you’ll just see it slowly morph from old to new.”