The Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) says Deposit Money Bank (DMB) and Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country rejecting old and small denominations of the United States Dollar bills will be sanctioned.

In a circular signed by CBN’s Acting Director of Currency Operations Department, Mohammed Solaja, and issued to all DMBs, BDCs and the general public, the apex Bank said its Market Intelligence had revealed the continued rejection of the affected Dollar notes.

According to the CBN, its earlier circular number COD/DIR/INT/001//002, dated April 9, 2021, remained in force and that its provisions would be applied against any bank or authorised Foreign Exchange dealer who contravened the guidelines.

The circular, which was posted on the website of the CBN on Tuesday stated that all DMBs and authorised Foreign Exchange dealers must accept old series and small denominations of US Dollars that are brought by their customers for deposit.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or authorised Foreign Exchange dealer who refuses to accept old series/lower denominations of the US Dollar Bills from their customers.

“In addition, all authorised Foreign Exchange Dealers are advised to desist from defacing/stamping US banknotes as such notes always fail authentication test during processing/sorting,” the CBN circular stated.