From Uche Usim, Abuja

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to sanction Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and licenced Bureau De Change Operators who flout its order on accepting both old and lower denominations of the United States Dollars (USD) from customers.

The apex bank came out with the order following endless complaints from bank customers over mass rejection of lower denomination of dollar and lower series of the dollar by authorised dealers.

The CBN said in a statement: ‘All DMBs/authorised forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars (USD) that are legal tenders for deposit from their customers.

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‘The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorised forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers.’

It also warned dealers and banks to stop defacing or stamping bank notes as the notes fail authentication test during processing.

‘All authorised dealers are advised to desist from defacing/stamping US Dollar Banknotes as such notes always fail the authentication test during processing/sorting.’

Nigeria has been faced with huge dollar scarcity which is hurting businesses, the naira and prices of goods.