Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a warning to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Bureau De Change (BDC) operators against rejecting old series and lower denomination US dollars.
Gatekeepers News reports that the apex bank threatened to impose sanctions on lenders that refuse to accept the currencies.
In a circular dated June 27, signed by Solaja Olayemi, Acting Director of Currency Operations, the CBN directed banks and BDCs to accept the old series and lower denomination US dollars. The circular was released on the CBN’s website and cautioned against the continued rejection of the currencies.
The CBN’s warning follows the outcome of its consumer market intelligence, which revealed that banks and authorized forex dealers were still rejecting old and lower denomination US dollar bills.
“Kindly be reminded that the Central Bank of Nigeria 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.
“For the avoidance of doubt and further guidance on the circular, the content is hereby reissued as follows for strict compliance: All DMBs /authorized forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars that are legal tender for deposit from their customers. The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or authorised forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers,” the circular partly read.
The circular also warned authorised forex dealers against defacing/stamping US Dollar banknotes as such notes always fail authentication tests during processing/sorting.
