CBN Vows to Sanction Banks Hoarding New Naira Notes

Following the concern expressed by Banks’ customers over paucity of new naira notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has vowed to sanction any commercial bank hoarding the new naira notes from the public.

The apex bank stated that it would commence the monitoring of commercial banks to know those who are not giving the new naira notes to costumers.

Mr. Benedict Maduagwu, branch Controller of Awka CBN, Anambra State, made this disclosure on Thursday during a sensitization programme to traders at the main market, Onitsha, Anambra State.

Maduagwu said “As from today, the CBN will be sanctioning any commercial bank that is not dispensing new notes to the public. We will be visiting commercial banks to ensure that they give out the new naira notes to public to do their businesses. We will make sure that the new notes made available to banks are not diverted to politicians only.”

He explained that the bank new redesign naira notes were targeted at safeguarding the nation’s currency from hoarding by individuals who stock naira in their houses.

“The hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics shows that 84.71 per cent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks, with only 15.29 percent in the Central Bank and commercial banks,” he said.

He said the CBN also redesigned the currency because of worsening shortage of clean and fit banknotes and the increasing case of counterfeiting notes by criminals.

He appealed to the traders to embrace the new notes, adding that it would help to control inflation and bring the hoarded currency into the banking system.

He added that the policy would help to get more accurate data on money supply and monetary aggregates.

According to him, the currency redesign would also assist in the fight against corruption as the exercise would rein in the higher denomination used for corruption, stressing that the movement of such funds from the banking system could be tracked easily.