Business - Companies
Updated: March 12, 2023

Naira Scarcity: CBN Stops Cash Swap Programme

By Felicia Abisola Olamiji
March 12, 2023
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had said that residents of rural and unbanked areas can no longer swap old notes for new ones through its cash swap programme.

Isa Abdulmumin, the CBN Acting Spokesperson said this in a telephone chat with Punch, noting that the programme had fulfilled its mandate.

“The programme has stopped. The cash swap was not in perpetuity and has a lifeline”

According to the CBN, the aim of the cash swap programme was to enable citizens in rural areas or those with limited access to formal financial services to exchange old naira notes for the redesigned notes.

The CBN announced the launch of the cash swap programme on January 21, 2023.

However, as a way of promoting financial inclusion, the CBN excluded mobile money/Point of Sales agents in Abuja and Lagos, maintaining that the service was available for anybody without a bank account.