Only 47 days have Nigerians been allowed to go to the bank and change their old 1000.500.200 notes. Economists see this as a mistake - ...
Only 47 days have Nigerians been allowed to go to the bank and change their old 1000.500.200 notes. Economists see this as a mistake -
As a result of the decision taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria to change the nature of some of the country's currency notes, the people of the country have been ordered to return the old money that will be changed to the bank.
The CBN said that if people return the money without delay, they will be able to get their money exchanged on time.
He said that because of this new system, all the charges that are made on the money that is delivered to the banks without delay, and all the amount of the money have been removed.
However, economists in Nigeria have commented on the deadline for returning the old currency to be transferred to the bank.
Aliyu Da'u, an economist in Nigeria, told the BBC that the mandate given by the central bank of Nigeria is actually too small considering the amount of money in people's hands.
He said, "If we consider the days that have been taken to return these funds, they are actually very few, because there must be a crowd of people who will go to the banks to return their money."
Here is the issue of the coronavirus which is still there, and whenever there is crowding of people if there is someone who has it, it must be spread, and here is the issue of the danger of people on the line to enter the bank and thieves will attack them and take the money. "
The economist, all of these are problems that can be faced because of the limited time given to return these funds.
Aliyu Da'u, said, "Apart from these problems, there is also the fear that people have that the issue of changing the money can bring down the investment of some, especially businessmen."
He said, but since the CBN said that the money should be returned for replacement, it is not surprising that there are some secret information that the government has that the common people do not have, such as the issue of politicians who have collected money and kept it. to be used during elections.
It is not surprising that this short period of time was given to get the money from the politicians, perhaps to make it easier to distribute the money during the election.
The economist said, after politics, there is also the issue of bandits who kidnap people for ransom, no wonder they have such money to change, so if this term is given, they must get rid of it. them for replacement.
He said, if such examples are considered, it can be said that the decision to set the deadline is right, but in reality, the situation will affect people a lot, especially businessmen.
On Wednesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced the decision to change the country's currency from 100 to 1000 naira notes, requiring those with cash to return them to banks within 50 days.
Also, the CBN said that the new money that will be produced will start circulating in the hands of people from December 15, 2022, and the old money will continue to be used until January 31, 2023.
The President of Nigeria, Muhammad Buhari, when he was in military rule in 1984, once changed the country's currency within two weeks. This event brought many businessmen to their knees in the country and reduced the willingness of other African countries to use Nigerian currency because of what happened in the time.
Nigeria's Currency Redesign: CBN To Launch New Naira Notes In December