President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday unveiled the new notes of the three highest denominations of the Nigerian currency: N200, N500 and N1,000.
The inauguration took place at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting.
In the ceremony, the Governors Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Godwin Emefiele said the introduction of the new notes was a deliberate step by the government to check corruption and counterfeiting of notes.
Mr. Emefiele had earlier said that of the total N3.23 trillion in circulation in October, N2.73 trillion remained outside the country’s banking system, making it difficult for monetary policies to be effective.
He also talked about the security dimension of the decision to redesign the notes.
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“In view of the prevailing security situation in the country, the CBN is confident that incidents of terrorism and kidnapping would decrease as access to the large volume of money outside the banking system used as a source of funds to pay the ransom will begin to dry up,” he said.
The old notes would be valid until January 31, 2023. Speaking at the bank’s monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, Mr Emefiele said the January deadline will not be extended.
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