CBN Reverts To Paper Notes, 2014

Considering the pecu
liarity of the hot weather that affects the longitivity of polymer naira notes in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria has decided to reverse to paper notes in 2014.
The polymer notes which have been in use since 2007 on small denomination of N50, N20, N10 and N5 would now be printed on paper like the N100, N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
According to the spokesman of CBN, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, the polymer notes have been on test run since 2007.
Okoroafor said that it explained why the apex bank did not print all the naira notes in polymer, adding that CBN discovered that the polymer notes easily fade out “because of our peculiar hot climate in Nigeria that makes them look tattered when in use over time”.
The CBN signed a deal in 2006 with Australia’s Secwency International to print more lower units of naira in polymer while higher denominations were kept in paper form.
The apex bank also noted the public outcry about the poorer quality of some of the new currency notes in circulation.
Speaking in a telephone interview with The Tide however, Mr. Victor Babatunde Dare a financial expert with Citadel Premium Bridge and United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), said the change of the currency structure is not the primary problem of Nigeria but a secondary economic issue.
Babatunde noted that the primary problem is how to change the currency value and end the issue of poverty and lack of employment.
He worried over the economic dimension of spending time and money to serve personal interest of enriching few persons and called on the apex bank to leave the polymer notes as they are and solve the nation’s serious economic problems.