- December 14, 2022
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Economy
Comment on this story
Comment
Nigerians have until the end of January to exchange their highest-value banknotes for freshly-issued bills. The aim is to bring an estimated 2.7 trillion naira ($6 billion) that circulates in informal channels into the regular banking system. But cash is the lifeblood of Africa’s biggest economy and there’s concern that the switchover could trigger the kind of chaos that broke out when India tried something similar in 2016.
The central bank is changing the colors of the 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes and the new bills will go into circulation from Dec. 15. The hope is that when people drop off their old notes, many will choose that moment to switch to making electronic payments via a bank account for their day-to-day finances.
2. What difference would that make?
It’s harder for the central bank to do its job when an estimated 85% of local currency doesn’t go through the banking system and well over 90% of…
