Economy

Naira Redesign: Anambra Residents Decry Sudden Disappearance of New N200, N500, N1,000 Notes

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2023

Barely one month after the reintroduction of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, some residents of Anambra have decried the unavailability of the new notes in many banks in the state.

Some of them told the press in Awka on Monday that they hardly complete transactions with new naira notes because they were not available.

This is even after the old currencies had been mopped up from circulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and unavailable for use by citizens for about two months before they were officially pumped into the system on Dec.

15, 2022.

The residents said it was surprising that they had to return to and rely on the reintroduced old notes because the new notes which were to replace them were not in circulation.

A Correspondent who monitored the situation reports that cash transactions were largely done with old notes.

Mr James Nnaeto said that he had not been able to withdraw as low as N5,000 new notes from any bank but had regularly been paid in old notes since banks resumed disbursing them.

Nnaeto said he had noticed sudden disappearance of the new notes following the reintroduction of the new notes in March.

According to him, we are back to our normal lives, thank God for the return of the old notes.

“Apart from when I used old notes to buy new ones and when I paid high charges to get them, I have not seen them again, even the banks are not issuing them.

“The CBN is not prepared for that Policy because there is nothing that suggests that they were ready to replace the old currency notes with new ones,” he said.

Mrs Angela Molokwu, a trader, said she was almost going out of business because of lack of cash.

Molokwu said business was gradually regaining stability since the reintroduction of the old notes which had made transactions easy.

She said she had to resort to Point of Sale (PoS) operator services which had its challenges including delayed and failed transactions but pointed out that such services did not make for easy retail sale transactions.

“Thank God cash is back, people now use cash to buy what they want but it is with the old notes, I am not seeing the new notes as it should be.

“If I go to bank for withdrawal, it is the old naira notes they pay me with,” she said

On his part, Mr Osita Obi, Convener of Recovery Nigeria Project (RNP), a Civil Society group, said the country’s economy would have grinded to a halt if the old currency notes were not returned to circulation.

Obi, who said the ratio of new notes to old ones in circulation was around 25 :75, regretted that in spite of the assurances of the CBN that it had printed sufficient quantity of the redesigned notes, Nigerians could not use them freely five months after.

According to him, CBN is not ready; they have a lot of explanations to make to Nigerians.

“Where are the new notes they said they printed, how come we have the old notes which were withdrawn and reintroduced more in circulation now?

“The policy somersault was to much for Nigerians, it was unnecessary; what it means is that Nigerians would have been stranded by now if the old notes were not returned, so why were they returned in the first place?

“Government should not be taking citizens for a ride,” he said.

Prof. Uche Nwogwugwu of the Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka said the CBN naira redesign policy could not be described as economic because it was not planned nor did the outcome result in improved welfare of citizens.

Nwogwugwu opined that it was more of political considerations which the Apex Bank and the Federal Government should also consider the outcome and weigh if it justified the hardship citizens passed through.

He said rather than shrinking the economy, the CBN should expand liquidity or cash in circulation to accommodate increased demands due to increase in number and volume of businesses and population.

The economist said the Dec. 31 deadline for complete phasing out of the old naira notes may not be achievable if the attitude adopted for implementation of the policy five months after the introduction was sustained.

“I still cannot tell the reason for that policy, only the CBN can do that, but all I can say is that it is not economic, if it was, it should have been well planned and the outcome cannot be hardship, so it must have been political.

“Money in circulation can never be enough, our economy is growing, so people need more money to transact.

” The currency redesign Policy almost killed the economy, the informal economy almost went into extinction and after all that, we are back to where we were.

“The new notes are no where to be found, we have more of old currency today, people are worse off and the way things are going, it is unlikely that the Dec. 31 deadline will be met,” he said.(NAN)

Economy

We’ll Continue Borrowing Within Sustainable Limits- FG

Published

7 hours ago

May 28, 2025

Editor_01

The Federal Government says it will continue to borrow within manageable and sustainable limits in accordance with the Debt Management Office (DMO) debt sustainability framework.

This is contained in a statement by the Director, Information and Public Relations in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Mohammed Manga, in Abuja on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu recently requested the approval of the 2024 – 2026 external borrowing rolling plan from the National Assembly.

Tinubu has requested the National Assembly’s approval to secure external loans of 21.5 million dollars and 15 billion Yuan, along with a grant of 65 million Euro, as part of the federal government’s proposed 2025–2026 external borrowing plan.

Manga said that the proposed borrowing plan was an essential component of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in accordance with both the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and the DMO Act 2003.

“The plan outlines the external borrowing framework for both the federal and sub-national governments over a three-year period, accompanied by five detailed appendices on the projects, terms and conditions, implementation period, etc.

“By adopting a structured, forward-looking approach, the plan facilitates comprehensive financial planning and avoids the inefficiencies of ad-hoc or reactive borrowing practices.

“This strategic method enhances the country’s ability to implement effective fiscal policies and mobilise development resources,” he said.

According to the statement, the borrowing plan does not equate to actual borrowing for the period.

“The actual borrowing for each year is contained in the annual budget. In 2025, the external borrowing component is 1.23 billion dollars, and it has not yet been drawn.

“This is planned for H2 2025, the plan is for both federal and several state governments across numerous geopolitical zones including Abia, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Oyo, Sokoto, and Yobe States.

“Importantly, it should be noted that the borrowing rolling plan does not equate to an automatic increase in the nation’s debt burden.

“The nature of the rolling plan means that borrowings are split over the period of the projects, for example, a large proportion of projects in the 2024–2026 rolling plan have multi-year drawdowns of between five to seven years which are project-tied loans,” Manga said.

He said that these projects cut across critical sectors of the economy, including power grids and transmission lines, irrigation for improving food security, fibre optics network across the country, fighter jets for security, rail and road infrastructure.

According to him, the majority of the proposed borrowing will be sourced from the country’s development partners, like the World Bank, African Development Bank, French Development Agency, European Investment Bank, JICA, China EximBank, and the Islamic Development Bank.

Manga said that these institutions offer concessional financing with favourable terms and long repayment periods, thereby supporting Nigeria’s development objectives sustainably.

He said that the government seeks to reiterate that the debt service to revenue ratio has started decreasing from its peak of over 90 per cent in 2023.

Manga said that the government has ended the distortionary and inflationary ways and means.

According to him, there is significant revenue expectations from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Ltd), technology-enabled monitoring and collection of surpluses from government owned enterprises and revenue-generating ministries, departments, and agencies and legacy outstanding dues.

“Having achieved a fair degree of macroeconomic stabilisation, the overarching goal of the federal government is to pivot the economy onto a path of rapid, sustained, and inclusive economic growth.

“Achieving this vision requires substantial investment in critical sectors such as transportation, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture.

“These investments will lay the groundwork for long-term economic diversification and encourage private sector participation.

“Our debt strategy is therefore guided not solely by the size of our obligations, but by the utility, sustainability, and economic returns of the borrowing,” he said.(NAN)