The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country.
The move is part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations and to improve the availability of cash to bank customers.
According to Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, the Acting Director of the Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.
As part of the effort to ensure that customers have access to cash, the CBN has directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.
AbdulMumin stated that branches of commercial banks will operate on weekends to attend to customers’ cash needs.
In addition to the weekend opening directive, the CBN has also directed banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls throughout the weekends.
“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” AbdulMumin said.
Abdulmumin said Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country.
He urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.
