The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally extended the deadline for the swap of old naira notes at commercial banks by 10 days.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said the new deadline is February 10, 2023.
However, Nigerians will still be able to deposit their old notes directly with the CBN until February 17, 2023 described as “grace period”.
Nigerians had been complaining about the inability to swap their old notes for the new designs as the January 31 deadline loomed.
Although banks are working through the weekend to swap the notes, there are widespread complaints about scarcity, with people in the rural areas the most hit.
The CBN previously said it would not extend the deadline.
However, Emefiele said on Sunday that as a result of measures put in place to ease the scarcity, President Muhammadu Buhari has given approval for the extension of deadline.