Currency circulation has improved in major cities across Nigeria following the third day of full implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on the legal tender status of old currency notes.
According to QUEST TIMES’ findings, banks have begun dispensing old banknotes over-the-counter and through Automated Teller Machines, or ATMs.
Also, most traders and service providers now accept old banknotes, just as banks do.
However, it appears that the banks have run out of new Naira notes, as both ATMs and banking halls visited dispensed only old banknotes to customers.
A staff member at one of Lagos Island’s banks stated that most banks, including her own, have not received supplies of the new banknotes since this week.
Our findings also show that banks are still imposing cash withdrawal limits of N10,000 per customer per day.
However, some banks were not dispensing currency notes at the time of my visit due to a lack of cash. One of the banks’ security personnel stated that the available cash had been depleted prior to the visit.
Meanwhile, in markets visited, traders were seen accepting old naira banknotes.
A businessman who collected the old notes from a bank ATM on Lagos Island said he used the money to buy petrol, which was accepted. Motorists and merchants in the area also accepted the old currency notes.
