The plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign N100, N200, N500, N1,000 banknotes and issue new ones in a major push to tackle counterfeiting is expected to further deepen the crave for digital payment. More Nigerians are expected to abandon cash-based transactions in the next few months as the policy unfolds.
The Governor said there has been significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 percent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks; worsening shortage of clean and fit banknotes with attendant negative perception of the CBN.
In recent years, the CBN has recorded significantly higher rates of counterfeiting especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1,000 banknotes. Emefiele also stated that global best practice is for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years, the naira has not been redesigned in the last 20 years.
