The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to sanction commercial banks that reject the old and small denominations of the US dollar.
The apex bank said in a circular signed by its Director of the Currency Operations Department, Ahmed Umar, that its market intelligence revealed the continued rejection of the affected dollar notes, describing it as unacceptable.
CBN threatens to wield the big stick
CBN said:
“All DMBs/authorized dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of the United States Dollars (USD) that are legal tender for the deposit for their customers.”
The bank said it would not hesitate to sanction DMBs or authorized dealers who refuse to accept old series of or lower denominations of US dollar bills from their customers.
Vanguard reports that the bank warned dealers against defacing the dollar bills, stating that such bills fail authentication tests during processing and sorting.
CBN directs banks to deposit excess dollars in its offices
A previous report by Legit.ng disclosed that CBN has issued new guidelines to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) regarding depositing foreign currency at its branches.
This directive was contained in a circular issued by Mohammed Solaja, the Director of Currency Operators, and posted on the bank’s website on Friday, June 28.
According to CBN’s new directive, each bank can deposit up to $10 million in $100 and $50 notes daily. These deposits will be made exclusively at the CBN branches in Abuja and Lagos.
CBN moves to address increasing dollar demands
The move aims to address the increasing demand by DMBs to deposit their forex cash with the CBN for onward credit to their offshore accounts with correspondent banks.
The circular, with reference number COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/016, also mandates that banks notify the CBN in writing at least three working days before making such deposits.
For smaller denominations, such as $20 notes and below, the maximum daily deposit limit is $1 million. Banks announce new requirement to buy dollars Earlier,
Nigerian banks released a fresh requirement to customers looking to buy foreign currencies.
