All denominations of dollars are accepted in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has insisted, warning banks against rejecting lower and old denominations.
It is a standard practice by some operators of Bureau de Change (BDCs) to either reject smaller notes such as one, five, 10 and 20 dollars outright or change them lower than the 50 and 100 notes.
In a circular with reference number ‘COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/017 and signed by the Acting Director of the Currency Operations Department, Solaja Mohammed Olayemi, the CBN restated the need for banks to adhere to the new directive, which supersedes the one that was issued on the 9th of April 2021.
The new directive said: “The outcome of the consumer market intelligence conducted by the Bank revealed the continued rejection of old/lower denominations of United States (US) Dollar bills by Deposit Money Banks (DMBS) and other authorized forex dealers. Kindly be reminded that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular referenced COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/002 and dated 9th April 2021 which explicitly frowned at this selective acceptance of deposit is still in force and must be adhered to and complied with by all relevant parties.”
The CBN insisted that the lower denominations are legal tenders acceptable within Nigeria.
“For the avoidance of doubt and further guidance on the circular, the content is hereby reissued as follows for strict compliance: All DMBs and authorised forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars (USD) that are legal tender for a deposit from their customers. The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or authorized forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers,” it said.
