Naira scarcity to ease as banks open Saturday and Sunday

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations.

It also confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country to address the hardship faced by millions of Nigerians as a result of the scarcity of the naira.

Following a meeting between the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and bank chief executive officers on Wednesday, the apex bank had on Thursday begun the disbursement of the old naira notes to the banks as part of efforts to end the currency scarcity in the country.

It was reported to have concluded plans to monitor compliance by the banks through a team of CBN officials to ensure proper disbursement of the old notes.

Delegates from the CBN also met with the Nigeria Labour Congress at the Labour House in Abuja on Thursday over the planned protest due to the scarcity of naira notes.

The union, through its President, Joe Ajaero, while lamenting that the situation had not improved despite the Supreme Court order that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, said it would go ahead with the nationwide strike next Wednesday until the situation in the country normalise

But according to a statement signed by the CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isa Abdul Mumin, a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekend's.

The CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines 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

“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,” part of the statement read.

Consequently, some deposit money banks on Friday issued statements informing their customers that they would be open for cash withdrawals and deposits tomorrow and on Sunday.