Nigerian naira banknotes are seen in this picture illustration
Reuters

Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that President Muhammadu Buhari will unveil the newly designed Naira notes of N1,000, N500 and N200 on Wednesday.

This information was shared by Emefiele during the monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja on Tuesday. He also said that the central bank would not shift its deadline for the exchange of old notes for new ones. The monetary policy was hiked to 16.5% from 15.5% while all the other parameters remained unchanged.

Last month, the bank said that it had plans to replace the 200, 500 and 1,000 notes in a bid to suck up the excess cash, control inflation and curb all forms of criminality, especially after the recent kidnappings for ransom by bandits.

According to the announcement, Nigerian citizens have until Jan. 31 to exchange existing bills for new ones. The short window has drawn severe backlash from critics who say that this would harm the economically disadvantaged sections of society since almost 45% of the country's adult population doesn't have bank accounts. On average, there are 4.5 bank branches for every 100,000 people.

The announcement came after the bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 16.5% from 15.5% to tame surging inflation.

Previously, on Oct. 26, Emefiele had said the apex bank will issue the redesigned notes effective Dec. 15 while the new and existing currencies will remain legal tender and circulate together until Jan. 31, 2023.

However, the Dec. 15 deadline was abolished later, in a U-turn. "100 days is enough for any person from any part of Nigeria to deposit his money in the bank and get his money when the new notes are released," ChannelsTV quoted Emefiele as saying.

"For information, indeed, we are no longer waiting till Dec. 15 to unveil and begin to release the new notes. By the special grace of God, tomorrow, which is the 23rd of November 2022, the President has graciously accepted to unveil the new currencies and the new currencies will be unveiled tomorrow at the Federal Executive Chamber by 10 am," he added.