Officials of the CBN who do not wish to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the press on the issue alleged that many Nigerians are hoarding the new naira notes ahead of the December deadline for the phasing out of the old notes.

“About N1 trillion is currently in circulation and more money is being printed and released.” a source at the CBN said.

The source, who is involved in key monetary policy decisions of the apex bank, added: “People, not only politicians but ordinary Nigerians, are hoarding the new notes because of uncertainties.

“You know December will soon come. That is when all the old notes will cease to be legal tender. So people are stocking the new notes to mitigate uncertainties over the old or new naira notes.”

The CBN official advised the “authorities to engage in massive enlightenment and reassurances that the new notes will be available in and after December.”

According to the official, the CBN “releases N70 billion to the banks to distribute to their various branches every day, and they are largely old notes by way of strategy because of the phenomenon I spoke to you about earlier.

“When people see the new notes they just take them out of the system and don’t bring them back.

“That is the reason the CBN is dishing out the old notes so that they become available and citizens can make transactions very easily. That is the current position.

“So, it’s not that the CBN is not releasing money at all.”

When told that Nigerians want the new notes, the CBN official said: “Why are people looking for the new notes if they want to buy goods and services and money is available?

“They should leave that strategy to the CBN. That’s the bank’s problem, because by the end of the year, all the old notes being released now will also be removed from the system.

“For now that is not the problem of the citizens.

“Those complaining are looking for the new notes to hoard. That’s the implication.”

What is happening, the source said, “is that the new notes are not returned to the commercial banks.

“If they can be returning them to the commercial banks, the banks will also give them out to the citizens to use, but it appears that that is not happening,

“I don’t know what the fancy is in the new notes that they are hoarding them again.”

The official also disclosed that the CBN will print more new notes between now and December.