The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched a countdown clock on its website for the January 31, 2023 deadline for the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes currently in circulation.

The apex bank had announced a Naira redesign policy to produce new notes for three of the naira denominations in circulation: N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. The CBN had set December 15, 2022, as the official start day for the circulation of the new naira notes. It said the notes currently in circulation would remain legal tender alongside the new notes from December 15, 2022 to January 31, 2023.

The Central Bank had assured that banks would be open for operations from Monday to Saturday weekly. Earlier, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, had said there was hoarding of naira notes by members of the public, adding that statistics showed that over 80 per cent of the currency in circulation was outside the vaults of the commercial banks.