Redesigned Naira notes out
 

By Seun Adesida

09.01.07

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will on February 28 introduce redesigned naira notes. A top official of the CBN told Daily Sun that the apex bank had finalized arrangements to launch the new naira notes.

"We have concluded plans to introduce the new naira notes and I can tell you a lot of logistics have been put in place to ensure that every part of the country starts to spend the same currency from February 28, this year," the source said.

It will be recalled that the CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo last year hinted of plans to introduce the new currency in the first quarter of this year.

According to Soludo, redesigning naira notes and coins had become imperative following the problems of counterfeits, non-durability of existing currency notes and the high cost of production associated with them.

The new currency notes, which are expected to be small in size and with a plastic texture, comes with more security features that will check counterfeiting. They are more durable and their production is more cost effective.
 

The other benefit of the new currency notes is that it will assist the currency regime by improving pricing structure. The redesigned naira notes are: N5, N20 and N50 while 50k, N1 and N2 are to come in form of coins.

All the defects associated with existing coins, such as size and weight, which discourage their use, have been corrected in the new coins which now come in smaller sizes, lightweight and portable to carry.
 

According to the CBN governor, with the introduction of the new coins, the existing ones would be decommissioned and withdrawn from circulation.

The introduction of the coins was attributed to low and near absence of coins in the country, low value of the naira, payment inconvenience, pricing system and high cost of coins distribution.