Business
Why We’re Not Accepting New Naira Notes – Traders
Six days after the new naira notes went into circulation, some traders are still finding hard to accept it as legal tender, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The newly-redesigned N1,000, N500 and N200 bills became legal tender on December 15, 2022.
The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on October 26 announced plans to redesign the denominated notes, saying the old notes would cease to be legal tender by Jananuary 31, 2022.
READ ALSO: Just in: CBN Releases Security Features Of New Naira Notes [PHOTOS]
He said the reason for the currency redesign was to stop counterfeiting and hoarding.
A food vendor at Cele-Egbe bus stop, Egbe, Alhaja Sofiat Balogun, said that she would not accept the new notes just yet.
“People say that the money is not fine and they that it is not everywhere yet, I will not accept it until I see that it is fully in circulation.
“I do not want to start accepting it and when it’s time for me to spend it, it will be difficult for me.
“And secondly, I have seen on social media a video of a fake new note of N1000, this makes me even more afraid to accept it,” she said.
A fruit seller in Ili-ewe market, Egbe, Mrs Eme Jackson, said the reason she had refused the money is that the notes are too light.
“I prefer the old notes because it is very durable, no matter how you handle it, it will still remain strong, unlike the new one.
“The moment I saw it, I told my children not to accept it, even in my absence,” she said.
Also, a phone technician, Mr Ozuome Benedict, urged the apex bank to do a proper awareness on why they should accept the new notes.
“I do not have a problem accepting the new notes, the CBN should sensitise the people because so many are not aware that there’s a new note, that is why it is not accepted,” he said.
Meanwhile, NAN’s visit to some ATM machines around Ikotun, Ejigbo and Oshodi, showed that old notes were still being dispensed to customers.
A visit to one of the banks, a Teller told a customer who wanted to withdraw N100,000, that she could only be paid N20,000 in new notes and N80,000 in old notes.
But, when the customer asked why she wouldn’t completely pay her with the new notes, she (teller) told her that she was acting on instruction.
READ ALSO: How To Identify Fake Naira Notes
“I’m sorry to tell you that you can only have N20.000 of the new notes. This is an instruction given to us by the CBN,” the Teller said.
However, NAN’s visit to Zenith Bank ATM on Eric Moore, observed that the machine was dispensing the new notes of N500 and N200.
Some customers who saw the new notes for the first time, expressed mixed feelings as they passed the N500 bill from one hand to another in admiration.
PUNCH
Business
CBN Retains Interest Rate At 27%
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has voted to retain the benchmark interest rate at 27 per cent.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday following the apex bank’s 303rd MPC meeting in Abuja.
Cardoso stated that the committee also resolved to keep all other monetary policy indicators unchanged.
READ ALSO:CBN Issues Directive Clarifying Holding Companies’ Minimum Capital
He noted that the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remains at 45 per cent for commercial banks and 16 per cent for merchant banks, while the 75 per cent CRR on non-TSA public sector deposits was equally maintained.
Cardoso added that the Liquidity Ratio was retained at 30 per cent, and the Standing Facilities Corridor was adjusted to +50/-450 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate.
The decision comes as Nigeria records its seventh consecutive month of declining inflation, which eased to 16.05 per cent in September 2025.
Business
CBN Issues Directive Clarifying Holding Companies’ Minimum Capital
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued a definitive directive detailing how financial holding companies should calculate their minimum paid-up capital, following weeks of confusion that delayed the release of some banks’ half-year and nine-month financial statements.
In a circular dated November 14, 2025, the apex bank acknowledged “divergent interpretations” of the term minimum paid-up capital as stated in Section 7.1 of the 2014 Guidelines for Licensing and Regulation of Financial Holding Companies.
To eliminate ambiguity, the CBN ruled that minimum paid-up capital must be computed strictly as the par value of issued shares plus any share premium arising from their issuance.
READ ALSO:CBN Sets POS Maximum Transactions In Fresh Guidelines
“All Financial Holding Companies are required to apply this definition in computing their minimum capital requirement—without exception for subsidiaries,” the circular stated.
The regulator added that the directive takes immediate effect, noting that any previous interpretation that does not align with the new clarification “should be discontinued forthwith.”
The move is expected to calm market anxiety and provide clarity for lenders navigating ongoing regulatory capital requirements.
Business
Naira Records Massive Week-on-week Depreciation Against US Dollar
The Nigerian Naira recorded massive week-on-week losses against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate showed that the Naira dipped significantly to end the week at N1,456.73 on Friday, November 21, 2025, down from N1,442.43 traded on November 14.
This means that on a weekly basis, the Naira shed N14.06 against the dollar at the official market.
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However, at the black market, currently battling with low patronage, it remained stable at N1,465, the same rate traded last week.
The development comes despite Nigeria’s foreign reserves rising by 1.25 per cent to $43.64 billion in the last week.
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