The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks and bureau de change operators to accept old and lower denomination U.S. dollars as legal tender.

The apex bank gave the order in a circular signed by its Director of Currency Operations Department, Ahmed Umar.

Mr Umar said the CBN was inundated with complaints that banks reject old and lower denomination of U.S. dollar deposits.

He added, “The CBN had, in recent times, been inundated with complaints from members of the public on the rejection of old and lower denominations of the U.S. dollar bills by DMBs and other authorised forex dealers.

“All DMBs and authorised forex dealers should, henceforth, accept both old series and lower denominations of USD that are legal tender for deposit by their customers.

“The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorised forex dealers who refused to accept old series or lower denominations of the USD bills from their customers.” 

The director also cautioned forex dealers to desist from the habit of defacing or stamping dollar banknotes, as such notes always failed authentication tests during sorting. 

(NAN)