Nigeria to Replace High-Value Currency to Rein in Cash
- Central bank will redesign higher denomination bills
- Nigeria’s anti-graft agency warns against money laundering
A vendor counts Nigerian naira banknotes.
Photographer: KC Nwakalor/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Nigeria’s central bank will replace high-value currency notes starting Dec. 15 in a bid to mop up excess cash, rein in inflation and target rising insecurity in Africa’s largest economy.
The country’s banking regulator plans to issue redesigned 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said at a briefing in Abuja, the capital, on Wednesday. The old notes will cease to be legal tender starting Jan. 31, giving citizens of the West African country, where cash dominate transactions, six weeks to exchange their notes.