Business
Just in: Old Notes: No Extension, January 31st Deadline Stands- Emefiele Insists

…..increases benchmark interest rate to 17.5%
The Central Bank Of Nigeria, CBN, Governor Godwin Emefiele has reaffirmed that the January 31st deadline for the old Naira Notes stands, as there will be no extension.
The CBN’s MPC also voted to keep the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR
The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Tuesday raised its benchmark lending rate to 17.5 per cent to sustain the current policy to further rein in inflation.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced this Tuesday at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting that began Monday.
Addressing journalists at the end of the 2-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, Mr Emefiele said the committee voted to keep the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 32.5 per cent as well as the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
It will be recalled, the CBN on October 26, 2022 had announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes. President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently unveiled the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank fixed January 31 deadline for the validity of the old notes.
There have been concerns from many Nigerians over the slow spread of the three new naira notes as the January 31 2023 deadline approaches but the apex bank has insisted that the date stands.
The CBN also recently directed commercial banks to halt over-the-counter payment of the new notes and load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) with the redesigned naira notes to boost circulation.
The apex bank also launched a cash swap programme nationwide to enable those in the unbanked areas to exchange their old notes for new notes before the deadline.
Business
TAJBank opens another branch in Kano, assures customers world-class service

Joel Ajayi
Nigeria’s fastest growing non-interest banking products and services provider, TAJBank Limited, has opened a new branch in Kano in furtherance of the management’s sustained drive to deepen the brand’s penetration across the geo-political zones of the country.
The opening of the flagship Zoo Road, Kano branch came barely a week after the opening of the bank’s Apapa-Lagos branch and two days after the listing of its N10 billion Sukuk bond issuance on the Nigerian Exchange, making TAJBank the first corporate to list Sukuk bond on the bourse in Nigeria.
Speaking during the Kano branch opening event, the bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Hamid Joda, told hundreds of businessmen, artisans and individuals who expressed their interest to be among the first customers of the bank, that the management decided to further consolidate on the bank’s operations in the state “to support all Nigerians who desire to have banking services delivered to them at no interest and offer them opportunities to grow their enterprises and meet the needs of their families.
“As you may be aware, we just opened our Apapa-Lagos branch a few days ago. Coming to Kano to open this new branch, along with the existing ones here, is a demonstration of TAJBank board and management’s commitment to offer what no other bank is offering now to customers. I want to assure you that, as our operations mantra says, ‘our only interest is you’, our highly valued customers”, he added.
Joda said that with the licensing of TAJBank by the CBN to operate nationwide, more of TAJBank’s branches would be opened before the end of the first quarter of the year across the six geo-political zones to deepen the nation’s financial inclusion and by implication, lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty level through customized products and services delivery by the bank to its growing customers.
Commenting on the strength of the bank in terms of its customer-friendly services, strong information and Communications Technology (ICT) assets and highly skilled and courteous staff while opening the branch, Alhaji Ali Balarabe, said the experiences of customers at TAJBank’s branches everywhere attested to the fact that the bank was out to really serve its customers in ways no other bank is doing now.
Balarabe, who is Dangote Industries’ biggest distributor in Nigeria, enthused:
“I have been part of TAJBank’s sweet stories over the past three years and given the international and local awards by this bank so far, I can boldly say that TAJBank is the bank setting the pace in innovative products packaging and services delivery to customers.
“I encourage all Kano big business owners, MSME entrepreneurs, artisans, traders and individuals to do business with TAJBank and they will never regret doing so”, he added.
In his brief closing remarks, the Executive Director/ECO of the bank, Mr. Sherif Idi, told the hundreds of people queuing to open accounts in the branch that “identifying with TAJBank brand is the surest guarantee to a fulfilling future for all our customers in the country. Do it today, you won’t regret
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