Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that in two months following its naira notes redesign and cash swap policy, it has since recovered N1.9 trillion worth of currency previously held outside of the banking system. This was disclosed by the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele on Sunday, 29th January 2023, as part of his update following a meeting with President General Muhammadu Buhari. Emefiele noted that the apex bank has been able to reduce the currency outside the banking system to N900 billion from a whopping N2.7 trillion following the announcement of new naira notes. President Buhari in November 2022 had launched the new naira notes of N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations, which are aimed at combating counterfeiting, improving the effectiveness of monetary policy tools on inflation, as well as mopping excess liquidity. Emefiele said, “Ladies and gentlemen, available data at the Central Bank of Nigeria has shown that in 2015, currency in circulation was only N1.4 trillion. “As of October 2022, currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion out of which only N500 billion was within the banking industry and N2.7 trillion held permanently in people’s homes. So far and since the commencement of this program, we have collected about N1.9 trillion; leaving us with about N900 billion (N500 billion + N1.9 billion),” Emefiele also added that the initiative has recorded over 75% success rate, out of the N2.7 trillion held outside the banking system.
