The CBN has accused commercial banks of hoarding the new naira note.
The CBN made the discovery during the public sensitization program and the assessment of compliance with the directive for the circulation of the new currency in Port Harcourt.
With less than two weeks until the deadline for the old naira note, many individuals and businesses complain that the new naira note is still short-supplied. Many residents of Port Harcourt complained that most Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) still dispense the old naira notes.
The CBN said in its defense that the commercial bank owes the public an explanation because more than two billion naira of the new currency is being injected into the state banking system daily.
The CBN branch controller and CBN deputy director of strategy at the Port Harcourt branch visited various commercial banks in Port Harcourt. Their findings showed that most commercial banks hoard the new currency in their vaults and do not distribute it to other branches; they only distribute it to their special customers.
The CBN branch controller, Mr. Maxwell Okafor, stated that “the commercial bank receives the new note from the central bank daily and stores it in their vault.” “The commercial banks that are involved in the act of hoarding the currency will be severely penalized.”
Nigerians are appealing for an extension in the deadline for the old naira notes due to the scarcity of the new ones.
