The International Monetary Fund, on Wednesday, counselled the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the February 10 deadline for swapping old naira notes with the redesigned ones.
The IMF gave this advice in the wake of the challenges faced by Nigerians across the country over the banknote swap process.
A statement issued by Laraba S. Bonnet, Office Manager for Resident Representation for Nigeria on behalf of IMF Resident Representative to Nigeria, Ari Aisen, said “In light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes 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,”
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN extended the deadline for the expiration of higher denomination notes from N200 to N1000 to February 10 after long queues at banks swelled and commercial activities across the country were adversely affected.
