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According to the governor, the major reasons for the redesign are the significant hoarding of banknotes and the prevalent counterfeiting of these notes. To this effect, he said:
“In recent times, however, currency management has faced several daunting challenges that have continued to escalate in scale and sophistication with attendant and unintended consequences for the integrity of both the CBN and the country.
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“Significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 85 per cent of the currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks. To be more specific, at the end of September 2022, available data at the CBN indicate that N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of Commercial Banks across the country; and supposedly held by the public. Evidently, currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015; rising from N1.46 trillion in December 2015 to N3.23 trillion in September 2022. This is a worrisome trend that cannot be allowed to continue.
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“Indeed, recent development in photographic technology and advancements in printing devices have made counterfeiting relatively easier. In recent years, the CBN has recorded significantly higher rates of counterfeiting especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1,000 banknotes. “Although global best practice is for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every 5–8 years, our existing series of the Naira has not been redesigned in the last 20 years,” He added.Emefiele noted that the new designs will be out for circulation by December 15, 2022, however, the old notes will still be accepted until January 21, 2023. Featured Image Source: Ripples Nigeria
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