The Central Bank of Nigeria has warned Deposit Money Banks (DMBS) and Forex Dealers to desist from the act of rejecting old and lower denominations of the US Dollar bills.
This is according to a recent circular issued by the apex bank and signed by its Director of Currency Operations, Ahmed Umar.
According to the notice, the apex bank emphasized that it has been inundated with complaints from members of the public in recent times over the rejection of old/lower denominations of US Dollar bills by the aforementioned parties- DMBs and Forex Dealers.
The apex bank wondered why defaulting institutions blatantly continued this act, despite being fully aware that the old series and lower denominations of the US Dollar are legal tender for deposit from their customers. Going forward, in a bid to forestall the future occurrence of this anomaly, the apex bank promised to sanction erring or defaulting institution(s).
READ: CBN to pay N5 for $1 in “CBN Naira 4 Dollar scheme” for Diaspora Remittances
Commenting on the recent development, a part of the recent CBN circular emphasized that: ‘’All DMBs/authorized forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars (USD) that are legal tender for deposit from their customers.
‘’The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorized forex dealer who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers.’’
On the other hand, the apex institution warned all authorized forex dealers to desist from defacing/stamping US Dollar banknotes, as such notes always fail authentication test during processing/sorting.
Naijabusiness.com.ng understands that the recent policy might be connected to CBN’s renewed drive of attracting more forex into the country, in a bid to meet local demand and boost liquidity in the FX market. This has been a major focus of the CBN in recent times, leading to the adoption of a ‘’Naira4 Dollar’’ scheme. For more information about the CBN circular, click HERE.
