Godwin Emefiele, Central Bank governor, has revealed that the apex bank has lost track of N2.7 trillion of the country’s currency currently in circulation.

Mr. Emiefele made this disclosure in a statement on Wednesday during the CBN governor’s special press briefing in Abuja.

The apex bank boss revealed that about 80 per cent of the country’s currency in circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country.

He noted that Nigerians were hoarding bank notes, refusing to take them to banks.

“To be more specific, as at the end of September 2022, available data at the CBN indicate that N2.73 Trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of Commercial Banks across the country, and supposedly held by the public. Evidently, currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015; rising fromN1.46 trillion in December 2015 to N3.23 trillion in September 2022,” Mr Emefiele said.

The expose comes as the apex bank announced plans to unveil new naira notes.

He asked depositors to hit the banks to exchange their old currencies for the new ones before the January 31, 2023 expiration date.

Mr. Emefiele said President Muhammadu Buhari and other stakeholders have since approved the move to positively impact the value of the naira.