The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive to banks and foreign exchange (FX) dealers to cease the rejection of old series and lower denominations of dollars.

The directive was communicated in a circular dated June 27, 2024, and signed by Solaja Mohammed Olayemi, the acting director of the currency operations department.

The apex bank emphasized that all relevant parties must comply with this instruction, highlighting its disapproval of the selective acceptance of deposits.

The circular, released on Tuesday, revealed that a consumer market survey had uncovered ongoing rejection of old series and lower denominations of dollars by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other authorized forex dealers.

“The outcome of the consumer market intelligence conducted by the Bank revealed the continued rejection of old/lower denominations of United States (US) Dollar bills by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other authorized forex dealers,” the CBN stated.

The CBN reminded all parties of the existing circular referenced COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/002 dated April 9, 2021, which expressly prohibits selective acceptance of deposits and is still in force.

The apex bank instructed that all banks and authorized FX dealers “should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars (USD) that are legal tender for deposit from their customers.”

The financial regulator warned that it would not hesitate to sanction any bank or authorized forex dealer who refuses to accept old series or lower denominations of dollars from their customers.

Additionally, the CBN advised all authorized forex dealers to refrain from defacing or stamping dollars, as such notes often fail authentication tests during processing and sorting.