West African powerhouse, Nigeria has announced the deadline for the expiration of higher denomination naira notes to February 10.
The country’s central bank said it extended the deadline owing to long queues developed at banks and commercial activities almost came to a halt for a lack of the new currency.
The extension will give “all Nigerians that have naira legitimately earned” the opportunity to return them to banks, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said Sunday in a statement.
https://assets.poool.fr/advanced-paywall-frame.html “Africa’s most-populous nation started issuing redesigned 200-, 500-, and 1,000-naira notes in mid-December to mop up excess cash sitting outside the banking system,” reports Moneyweb.
“The existing notes of the same denomination were to cease to be legal tender from January 31.”
Furthermore, the central bank said the currency swap has so far resulted in the mobilization of 1.9 trillion naira ($4.1 billion) into banking vaults.
After the February 10 deadline, Nigerians will have a seven-day grace period to return the old higher denominations directly to the central bank.
In a previous post on Nigeria, BusinessTech posted that the government has opened a game-changing seaport as it looks to ease congestion at the country’s ports.
Nigeria unveiled a billion-dollar, Chinese-built deep seaport in Lagos, which will help it become an African hub for trans shipment, handling cargoes in transit for other destinations.
Opened by President Muhammadu Buhari earlier this week, he has made building infrastructure a key pillar of his government’s economic policy.
Buhari also hopes the new seaport will help his governing party win votes during next month’s presidential election.
