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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked banks and foreign exchange (forex) dealers to begin to accept both old series and lower denominations of the US dollars for deposit from customers.
This was contained in a statement released by the Director of Currency Operations Department, Ahmed Umar, to all deposit money banks (DMBs), Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, and the general public this week.
The director, in the statement, read: “The rejection of old/lower denomination of the United States dollar by the DBMs/forex dealers.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has in recent times been inundated with complaints from members of the public on the rejection of old/lower denominations of the US dollars bills by the DMBs and other authorised forex dealers
“All DMBs/authorised forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of the US dollars that are legal tender for deposit from their customers
“The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorised forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of the US dollar bills from their customers
“In addition, all authorised forex dealers are advised to desist from defacing/stamping US dollar banknotes as such notes always fail authentication tests during processing/sorting.”
Meanwhile, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) had hinted at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the positive effects of cryptocurrencies as a channel for diaspora remittances.
The ABCON disclosed this during its Quarterly Economic Review for the first quarter of 2021, commending the CBN for the N5/$ rebate scheme introduced to encourage diaspora Nigerians to use official channels to remit their funds.
The association, in a statement, explained that the apex bank needs to address other issues driving the patronage of cryptocurrency exchanges for remittance transfers.
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