* Directs commercial banks to open branches at weekends
* Emefiele to personally monitor compliance
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of a coordinated effort to ease the ease the current Naira scarcity.
The CBN has also directed all commercial banks to open their branches for operations on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, disclosed this in Abuja, on Friday, stating that the commercial banks have received substantial amount of cash – various denominations – for onward disbursement to their customers.
According to him, the CBN has directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.
“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he noted, adding that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.