Many Nigerians across the country are presently in a state of worry, as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) deadline to phase out the old naira notes elapsed today (Friday, February 10, 2023).
It would be recalled that the CBN, on Sunday, January 29, 2023, extended the deadline to stop the usage of old naira notes by 10 days.
According to Governor Godwin Emefiele of the apex bank, who disclosed the extension, the new deadline was now February 10 (today) instead of the former Tuesday, January 31, deadline.
“I had even forgotten that Friday is the deadline for the old naira notes, and I still have some with me. It would even surprise you that I spent money to withdraw it; I feel so sad,” a trader, who identified herself as Iya Titi stated.
Also lamenting, an electrician, who spoke to BizWatch Nigeria, stated: “I got a contract, and I went to withdraw money to get materials for the job. But unluckily for me, it was the old notes I got, and I didn’t realise the Friday deadline was already upon us. Now, I have to look for a functioning bank to join the queue to deposit it, because failure to do that would be my loss.”
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had advised the CBN to extend the February 10 deadline for the use of old naira notes, citing the difficulties in getting new notes.
Ari Aisen, IMF’s resident representative for Nigeria, gave the advice in a statement on Wednesday.
“In light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new banknotes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline, should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline,” the IMF chief was quoted as saying in a statement.
