BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR–The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria to consider extending the February 10 deadline for the swapping of old naira.
According to statement signed on his behalf by Laraba S. Bonnet, Office Manager for Resident Representation for Nigeria, said “In light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline, should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline.”
Meanwhile, Supreme Court on Wednesday prevented the government from enforcing a Friday deadline for citizens to swap old banknotes for new ones, as the International Monetary Fund flagged disruptions to trade and payments.
CBN had earlier announced a two weeks extension of the deadline for all old naira notes to cease being legal tenders.
