Abuja, Nigeria
CNN
—
President Muhammad Buhari on Thursday instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria to reissue old 200 naira ($0.43) notes that were withdrawn days ago.
Millions of people have staged violent protests in recent weeks Had a hard time getting a new redesigned one The 200, 500 and 1,000 naira note versions were canceled on February 10, despite a Supreme Court ruling that the planned currency swap should be stopped two days earlier.
Currently, Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reportedly warned Banks unable to distribute enough new cash could make it difficult to pay the temporary staff and security guards needed to run thousands of polling stations for the Feb. 25 presidential and congressional elections. CNN has reached out to INEC for comment.
Buhari unveiled a redesigned currency last November aimed at curbing counterfeiting and hoarding of large amounts of gold outside the banking system.
However, in the scene reminiscent of Chaos unleashed in India When trying to exchange the two largest bills in 2016, many Nigerians stood in long lines at cashpoints desperate to get enough cash to meet their daily spending. .
That shortage has led to frayed tempers and hardship, especially for those working in the cash-based informal economy and for citizens living in rural areas.
In a telecast on Thursday, Buhari expressed his sympathy for Nigerians going through hardship, announcing that the old 200 naira banknotes would remain in circulation for 60 days. High denomination notes remain canceled but can be redeemed at central banks and other designated points, he said.
He also assured Nigerians that the cash supply would improve in the coming days. Buhari said he had instructed the central bank to “make the new notes more available and accessible to citizens through banks.”
Last month, the central bank said that of the 3.23 trillion Nigerian naira ($6.9 billion) in circulation as of last October, “only 500 billion in the banking industry”, compared to a whopping 2.7 trillion naira (58 billion). billion) becomes “Permanently kept in people’s homes.”
In a speech Thursday, Buhari revealed that about 80% of those funds had been returned to banks. Unveiling About the new banknotes in November.
“I have been assured that about 2.1 trillion naira ($4.5 billion) of banknotes previously held outside the banking system have been successfully recovered since the start of this programme,” he said. I was.
