Nigeria’s old currency can be used longer amid cash crisis

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s central bank has extended the timeline to swap out its old currency for redesigned notes after the change triggered a cash shortage. A spokesman for the central bank says the announcement is meant to comply with a directive from the Supreme Court, which ruled that the program’s implementation broke the law. On Tuesday, both old and redesigned notes were still not available for thousands queued at banks in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja. The lack of enough new currency notes has forced businesses to close and left millions unable to withdraw their money. The Lagos-based Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprises says the Nigerian economy lost an estimated 20 trillion naira, or $43 billion, over the cash shortage.