Barely three days after the Central Bank of Nigeria declared old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes as legal tender, commercial banks are complaining about shortage of cash.Information Guide Nigeria
This has caused severe hardship and pains for several bank customers seeking to withdraw funds.
👉 Relocate to Canada Today!
Live, Study and Work in Canada. No Payment is Required! Hurry Now click here to Apply >> Immigrate to CanadaAccording to PUNCH, while some bank officials said their stocks of old notes were beginning to run low, others said they had exhausted the old naira notes in their vaults.
However, the CBN which has kept mute on whether it will release more old notes into circulation, is reportedly opposed to the recirculation of the old currencies due to its determination to push the cashless policy initiative to a logical end, PUNCH reports.
A senior bank executive who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that, “The CBN did not print enough new notes and does not want to return the old notes it has collected because it is still driving its cashless policy.”
PUNCH reports that a top industry executive close to the CBN said they might not return the old notes to banks because it would reverse its cashless policy.
Also speaking to PUNCH correspondents, a managing director of a tier-2 bank said, ”We don’t know if the CBN has destroyed the old notes in its custody or not. As we speak, we don’t also know if it will release the old notes to banks again but the truth is banks don’t have much of these old notes in their vaults. Sadly, customers are not depositing much again.”
“Many of us are expecting the CBN to disburse the old notes before Saturday. However, we are concerned they may not do so to curtail vote-buying on Saturday.
PUNCH reports that several banks said on Wednesday said their old notes stock had gone down.
An official of FCMB branch in Ikeja told PUNCH, “We exhausted our old notes by 2pm. Our head office has yet to give us any fresh supply because it does not have. We can only hope the CBN will supply soon.”
👉 Relocate to Canada Today!
Live, Study and Work in Canada. No Payment is Required! Hurry Now click here to Apply >> Immigrate to CanadaA First Bank official in the Akure branch, Ondo State, who spoke with The PUNCH on condition of anonymity, said, “Today, we paid N5,000 to each customer, yesterday, we paid N20,000; on Monday, we did N20,000. We have run out of both old and new notes now.
“People are not depositing old notes again. A branch that gets close to N100m in cash deposit or more, can hardly boast of N1m now. Most of our branches are advising customers to use alternative channels to transfer funds.
PUNCH reports that an official of UBA in Alagbako branch, Akure, Ondo State, also said that they do not have enough funds in its vault.