By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
A total of 67,265 pieces of counterfeit banknotes with a nominal value of N56.83 million was mopped up from circulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2020, an Annual Report provided by its Currency Operation Department has revealed.
This represents a 20.8 per cent decrease in volume when compared to the 84,934 pieces of fake banknotes impounded in the previous year, reflecting a 12.18 per cent decrease in value from N64.71 million.
According to the report, the N1000 denomination was the highest among these counterfeited notes as it constituted 69.1 per cent of the total counterfeit local currency realized during the period, followed by the N500 note, accounting for 30.79 per cent.
“The global standard for a number of counterfeits per million is 100. The ratio of counterfeit notes to the volume of banknotes in circulation was 13 pieces per million in 2020, compared to 20 pieces per million banknotes in 2019,” CBN disclosed.
It was noted that the drop in volume of fake Naira notes was a fruitful effort of the bank, in collaboration with security agencies to maintain the integrity of the banknotes in circulation by curbing incidences of counterfeiting during the reference period.
Relatively, the central bank said that it destroyed N698,480.00 million worth of unfit banknotes in 2020 to ensure the circulation of clean banknotes.
On currency disposal, the bank said, “At end-December 2020, a total of 151,427 boxes valued at N698,480.00 million was disposed”
This also showed that there was a decrease in the total disposed notes from 157,217 boxes valued at N814,437.60 million in 2019 to 5,790 boxes and N6,185.175 million disposed of in 2020.
In order to better the situation, the bank has said it would resolve to sustain compliance checks to ensure adherence to the Clean Notes Policy/Banknote and will continue collaboration with security agencies to combat the sale of naira banknotes, through sting operations and other activities.
“[there will be] automation of currency operations in the Branches to enhance efficiency and reduce manual intervention in some cash handling processes, and Recycling of banknote waste to reduce the carbon footprint,” it disclosed.
In addition, the CBN noted that it would continue to partner with relevant stakeholders in the Harmonized Publicity Campaign and reinforcement of the cashless policy to stem the tide of sale of naira notes.
This is to mitigate the act of counterfeiting and discourage poor handling of the naira notes.
