CBN to sanction banks rejecting old and small Dollar denominations

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to sanction Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for rejecting old and small denominations of the United States of America Dollars.

In a circular issued by the Ag. Director of Currency Operations Department of CBN, with reference: COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/017, the apex bank said its market intelligence had revealed the continued rejection of the affected Dollar notes, which it described as unacceptable.

This comes three years after the apex bank gave a similar warning.

Back in 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to accept from their customers old and lower denominations of US dollars as legal tender or face sanctions.

The CBN directive was contained in a circular signed by its Director for Currency Operations Department, Mr Ahmed Umar.

At the time, Umar said in his statement that the apex bank had been faced with complaints of the rejection of old/lower denomination US dollar deposits in the banks, adding that the CBN would sanction any of the banks or forex dealers, who failed to accept such denominations from their customers.