CBN Set To Change From Printing Of Polymer Naira Notes To Paper Notes.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has stopped the
printing of small denomination naira notes in polymer because they fade quickly.
The Deputy Governor, CBN, Mr. Tunde Lemo,
disclosed this in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Washington on
the sidelines of the ongoing Spring Meeting of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.
He said, "By the middle of the year, we will start to produce the
second generation of lower denomination notes, now in paper and not in
polymer."
"My plea is that Nigerians should exercise patience; it wasn't the
fault of the CBN; it was just because we had to go back to the drawing
board to rethink the 'Project Cure' in the light of the wish of the
public that we should not go ahead with the N5,000 notes and lower
denominations.
"We will correct that in the course of the year.
Polymer certainly will be phased out. In fact, we are phasing out
polymer. No new note is being printed in polymer now."
Lemo told NAN that when the CBN was going
to introduce the polymer currencies, it's search showed that they
could last longer than ordinary paper notes.
He said, "However, with the benefit of hindsight, we probably should
not have dumped polymer because, yes, the substrate lasts longer, but
the in-consubstrate began to fade;
we didn't realise that at the time of introduction.
"So, part of 'Project Cure' was actually to move away from polymer
substrate to paper;
unfortunately, we had a push-back because of
the issues around N5,000 note and coins.
"The entire programme was put in abeyance;
otherwise by now, we should have stopped
producing polymer.''
Lemo said the CBN had awarded a contract
for the printing of the higher denomination
notes to a foreign company because of low
capacity at the Nigerian Printing and Minting
Company.
He said the bank would begin to receive the
fresh notes from June.
On the campaign for careful handling of the
naira, Lemo said that it was unfortunate that
it was not successful, but noted that it was a
criminal act to abuse the naira going by the
CBN Act.
The deputy governor said, "Unfortunately, CBN is not a law enforcement
institution; we left that in the hands of the law enforcement
institutions and that has not kicked in.
"I still go to parties and see people spraying
money, stepping on money, I see touts
distributing mint-fresh money that should go
to customers.''
Lemo also told NAN that the CBN had talked
to the police to step up surveillance to reduce
their abuse of the naira, adding that the bank
had no right to arrest people who sold the
currency on the streets.
He said the act of abuse and sale of the naira
by touts had defeated the clean note policy of
the bank, but assured that efforts were being
made to tackle the problem.