- According to social media users, the United States will not accept older dollar bills below certain years
- The news comes as Nigeria plans to redesign some categories of naira notes by December 15, 2022
- The claim purportedly credited to the US government has no bases and has been proven false
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Social media in Nigeria is rife with news that the United States has warned Nigeria and other countries that dollar bills below 2021 will not be accepted.
The claim
The news comes amid fears that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to redesign certain banknotes denominations and render old ones useless and unacceptable by the end of January 2023.
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Due to the plans by the apex banks, there is a frantic rush for the US dollar as more Nigerians, especially those who have hoarded the local currency, seek to exchange them for the US dollar.
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According to the news, the US government has warned Nigerians and other nationals that it would not accept older dollar bills below certain years, especially the ones printed in 2021.
The news says that Nigerians who have hoarded the dollar will have difficulty disposing of them in the banks and elsewhere.
Legit.ng findings
In April 2021, the CBN warned banks and Bureau de Change operators not to reject old and lower denominations of dollar bills.
A Premium Times report dated April 21, 2021, said the apex bank warned deposit money banks and BDC operators to desist from rejecting older and lower denominations of dollar bills.
The CBN stated:
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN} has in recent times been inundated with complaints from members of the public on the rejection of old/lower denominations of US Dolor bills by Deposit money banks (OMBs) and other authorized forex dealers,” the bank said in a statement Tuesday.
“All OMBs/authorized forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars (USD) are legal tenders for the deposit from their customers.
“The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorized forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollars from their customers.”
Additionally, the CBN has also stated that old and lower denominations of the dollar bills are still valid in 2022 and beyond.
The circular advised banks and currency dealers to stop rejecting lower denominations and older dollar bills.
Therefore, the news that the US government plans to reject dollar bills below 2021 is false and baseless.
New naira notes: Banks issue deadlines to customers to deposit old naira notes
Legit.ng reported that amid the bickering between the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, over the redesigning of naira notes, several banks have given deadlines to their customers to deposit old naira notes.
One of the banks, Fidelity Banks, announced via its Instagram page on Saturday, October 29, 2022, that its customers have until January 31, 2022, to deposit old naira notes or risk being rejected.
The bank said it would extend working hours to 6 pm in all its branches to allow cash deposits.
Source: Legit.ng
