CBN Gives Commercial Banks New Order Over Naira Scarcity

CBN has given commercial banks a new order over the ongoing Naira scarcity.

Newsone reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all commercial banks in Nigeria to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays as part of a coordinated effort to facilitate the circulation of banknotes of various denominations

This online news platform understands that the Acting Director of the Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, disclosed this in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Friday, March 24, 2023.

The statement also confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country amid the ongoing Naira scarcity that has crippled economic activities in Nigeria.

Newsone Nigeria reports that the CBN Acting Director said that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.

According to him, the CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he noted, adding that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country.

The CBN Acting Director, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.