IMF reacts to Nigeria’s currency swap crisis

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for the extension of the February 10 deadline for cash swap.

The International monetary body made the call a few minutes after the Supreme Court restrained the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from enforcing the deadline.

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The IMF, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday by Laraba Bonet, hinged its plea on the hardship Nigerians were going through.

It said: “in light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline”.

The IMF is the first international financial organisation to openly call for extension of the deadline for the deposit of old Naira notes.