At a time many Nigerians are finding difficult to access cash for their daily living due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) currency redesign scheme, the apex bank has revealed that the currency outside the vaults of banks at the end of January stood at 788.92 billion. This represents a 69.3 per cent decrease from N2.6 trillion recorded in December 2022. This was contained in the CBN’s Money and Credit Statistics for the month of January 2023. However, the currency in circulation in the month under review stood at N1.37 trillion, representing 54 per cent decline from N3.01 trillion recorded in December 2022. This development stemmed from the CBN’s aggressive monetary policy to phase out old currency notes and introduce the new notes in circulation. This also came on the back of the huge notes deposited by Nigerians ahead of the initial January 31, 2023 stated by the apex bank. The CBN thereafter extended the deadline to February 10, 2023 after much pressure.
This resulted into huge queues seen in banking halls and this contributed to the reduction in currency outside the banking system. Meanwhile, mobile banking applications continued to suffer glitches on Tuesday, leaving Nigerians stranded.
Meanwhile, it was observed that some banks have started dispensing the old N200 notes to customers over the counter by way of rationing instead of giving customers what they wished to withdraw.
