Banks run out of naira again, demand soars

• Tellers ration new banknotes, lenders allocate N100,000 per teller at banks

• Suspicious customers snub new banknotes as local merchants reject new currencies

•Court refuses to stop CBN withdrawal policy, Emefiele meets with reps on Tuesday

Mixed reactions greeted the disbursement of the new naira notes which officially went into circulation on Thursday, with many bank customers clamoring for the new notes while a few others snubbed the latest notes in theaters banks in major Nigerian cities.

The newly revamped N1,000, N500 and N200 bills finally became legal tender on December 15, 2022, more than three weeks after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret'd), unveiled them at the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele on October 26 announced plans to redesign N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes, while stating that the old denominations would cease to be legal tender in here on January 31. , 2022.

Emefiele pointed out that the overhaul of the local currency has become necessary to tackle the problems of inflation, counterfeiting, insecurity and other problems plaguing Nigeria.< /p>

He further noted that the currency overhaul was intended to control currency in circulation as well as ransom payments to kidnappers and terrorists.

Our correspondents, who visited bank counters in several cities across the country, including Lagos and Abuja on Thursday, found that several bank branches had run out of the small quantities of new banknotes that had given them been allocated from their head office from 12 noon.

Further findings revealed that several bank branches had yet to receive their new note allocations, with many bank officials advising our correspondents that the new notes were still awaited.

In the bank branches visited in Lagos, a number of bank branches had exhausted their new banknote allocations when our correspondents visited the premises. However, officials at some of the centers that still had the new ratings told The PUNCH that their allocations were very low.

An Access Bank Plc official at Ojodu's Lagos branch, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter , said, "Each cashier has received N100,000 from the new N1,000 bill for subsequent disbursements to customers seeking payments at the counter. We do not have the other denominations of N500 and N200 yet. We do not we don't have enough new tickets yet."

Additionally, our correspondent observed that the ATMs at the bank branch only dispensed old naira notes.

Customers were also seen depositing old banknotes at the counter, while cashiers paid for more old naira banknotes at the center.

However, in a few cases, cashiers were seen mixing a few new naira notes with the old bills in their OTC payments.

Meanwhile, in some of the banking halls visited by our correspondents, some customers snubbed the new notes due to reports that some local traders were rejecting them as legal tender.

Thus, some bank customers refused to withdraw the new banknotes for payments at the counter.

Confirming the situation, a bank teller in Ogba, Lagos, told one of our correspondents that: "Some customers have rejected the new naira notes every time we give them; they said the new notes would not be collected from them in the market; they prefer the old notes.”

At the bank, a cashier told a customer asking for the new notes that she had used up her allowance.

However, when the customer insisted on having his payment in the new notes, the cashier approached his colleague to demand some.

"You can't wait to get the new tickets, but many customers I attended today refused to take them from me," the cashier said.

Abuja Banks

In the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, only one of the 10 bank branches visited paid its customers using the new banknotes. Moreover, only one of the ATM centers distributed the new naira notes among the several ATM galleries visited by one of our reporters at the FCT.

The PUNCH visited Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Taj Bank and Access Bank Plc located in Jabi Garage and the Central Business District.

None of the cashiers at the bank branches were seen paying their customers with the new banknotes through the counters.

However, only the Access Bank ATM in the area was seen dispensing new N1,000 and N500 notes.

Our correspondent observed that the ATM dispenses N1,000 with every withdrawal of N10,000.