By Stanley Onyeka, Lagos
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has threatened to sanction deposit money banks (DMBs) and authorised foreign exchange dealers rejecting old and lower denominations of the United States Dollar bills from customers.
In a circular signed by its acting Director of Currency Operations Department, Solaja Olayemi, the CBN said the warning follows the outcome from consumer market intelligence, which revealed a continued pattern of selective rejection of these bills by financial institutions and foreign exchange (FX) dealers.
It warned: “The Central Bank of Nigeria will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or authorised foreign exchange dealer who refuses to accept old series/lower denominations of the US Dollar bills from their customers.
The circular dated June 27 emphasized the mandatory acceptance of old and lower denominations of dollar notes, calling for strict adherence.
It further reads: “The outcome of the consumer market intelligence conducted by the Bank revealed the continued rejection of old/lower denominations of United States (US) Dollar bills by Deposit Money Banks (DMBS) and other authorised forex dealers.
“Kindly be reminded that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular referenced COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/002 and dated 9th April 2021 which explicitly frowned at this selective acceptance of deposit is still in force and must be adhered to and complied with by all relevant parties.”
The directive is to ensure that customers deposit the dollar bills without facing unnecessary rejection, while enforcing compliance and ensuring uniformity in the handling foreign currency deposits.
“In addition, all authorised foreign exchange dealers are advised to desist from defacing/stamping US Banknotes as such notes always fail authentication test during processing/sorting.”
The directive is to ensure that customers deposit the dollar bills without facing unnecessary rejection, while enforcing compliance and ensuring uniformity in the handling foreign currency deposits.
