CBN Plans to Release N5000 Note in March 2014

Despite criticisms from the public, the Central Bank of Nigeria has announced plans to produce and distribute the N5000 note in 2014. Deputy Governor of CBN, Tunde Lemo disclosed this while speaking to journalists at the NIBSS 20th anniversary conference held in Lagos, saying in one to two months from now, the N5000 notes would be in circulation.

He added that Nigerians would soon see the notes in circulation and start to enjoy its benefits. Speaking on the cashless initiative, Lemo noted that it has been a great success within the experimented states, stressing that the apex bank has deployed 120,000 Point of Sale (PoS) Machines across the states where cashless policy is being experimented in Nigeria.

He frowned at reports that 70 percent of the PoS deployed within the country are ineffective, explaining that a lot of things could have caused the ineffectiveness”. Similarly Director, Banking and Payment Systems, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, who was also a speaker at the conference, noted that the apex bank’s cashless initiative has aided the development of Nigeria.

He stressed that banks and customers now enjoy the easy flow of transactions within the banks

and that the Nigeria payments system, in the last two decades, has witnessed significant technological advancement, due to the operations of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement (NIBSS) Plc.