Naira crisis: Banks ration old notes, NLC insists on seven-day ultimatum
Written by Taiwo Adekola on March 15, 2023
Deposit Money Banks have begun to ration the disbursements of old N1, 000 and N500 notes to their customers amid uncertainty over whether the Central Bank of Nigeria will release the old notes in its custody.
This came about 24 hours after the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced that old N1, 000, N500 and N200 notes remained legal tender.
But despite the CBN’s statement on Monday night, the Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday insisted on the seven-day ultimatum it gave the Federal Government to end the cash crunch.
The apex bank’s position came on the heels of several weeks of confusion over the legal status of the old currencies amid a series of Supreme Court judgments in a suit between some state governments and the Federal Government.
The declaration by the CBN was expected to put an end to the scarcity of old and new naira notes that had inflicted pain on Nigerians but findings by newsmen on Tuesday revealed that the naira crisis might not be over soon.