The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it has released cash to commercial banks across the country to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations.
The CBN has also directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had earlier directed its members to picket the offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nationwide over cash scarcity.
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin in Abuja on Friday, stated that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.
According to him, the CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.
“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he added that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country.
He urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.