The Central Bank of Nigeria has responded to concerns regarding the disappearance of newly redesigned banknotes by announcing that it will supply more quantities of the new notes to banks. According to the CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Dr. Isa AbdulMumim, banks are expected to disburse the new currencies to their customers via over-the-counter payments and Automated Teller Machines.

CBN assured the public that the redesigned and old notes will continue to circulate side-by-side until the end of December 2023, when the old N1000, N500, and N200 banknotes will be phased out.

The currency in circulation in the country jumped by N701.4bn in one month to hit N1.6tn in March 2023 after the CBN reversed its policy on the naira redesign. The currency in circulation had dipped by 235.03% to N982.09bn as of the end of February from N3.29tn as of the end of October 2022, on the back of the naira redesign policy of the CBN.

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During this period, N2.3tn was mopped up from circulation, with the hardest hit being the most vulnerable members of the population, including the poor, the unbanked, and rural dwellers.

The Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, announced plans to redesign the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in October 2022. The governor had decried the challenges associated with currency management, including the hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80% of currency-in-circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks.

CBN has assured the public that there is no plan to phase out the redesigned currency and that both old and new notes will be accepted as legal tender.