THE CABLE
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says any commercial bank that fails to pick up the new naira notes for distribution will be fined N1 million daily.
Adeleke Adelokun, a deputy director at CBN, made this known while sensitising traders on the need to embrace the new currency and return old ones to banks, at Ayegbaju International Market in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, on Friday.
Two weeks ago, the CBN ordered banks to halt dispensing the new currency notes over the counter, and only make them available via automated teller machines (ATMs).
It further threatened to penalise commercial banks who fail to comply with the directive of loading the redesigned naira notes in their ATMs.
Speaking with the traders, Adelokun said the apex bank had printed enough naira notes but observed that commercial banks were not collecting them.
“As at today, CBN has printed enough new naira notes of N200, N500 and N1,000,” NAN quoted the CBN official as saying.
“But, what we discovered was that most of the banks that are supposed to collect the new notes have not collected them. So, we have put a sanction on the banks.
