The higher denomination banknotes together accounted for 63.47 per cent and 98.08 per cent of the total CIC, in terms of volume and value, respectively.
The volume of lower denomination banknotes (N5, N10, N20, N50), accounted for 28.43 per cent of the total CIC and 1.92 per cent, in terms of value as at end-December 2020.
According to the annual report published , in 2020, a total of 173,585 boxes of banknotes valued at N980,758.00 million was processed, compared with 260,651 boxes of banknotes valued at N1,533,729 million in 2019. This represents a decrease of 33.40 per cent in the number of boxes or N552,971 million in value of processed banknotes.
On a separate note, the bank said the receipt and authentication of foreign currency deposits by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) reduced significantly due to the downturn in global trade in 2020.
Also, the bank recorded a significant reduction in the volume and cost of foreign exchange procurement. A total of $1,830 billion was procured over the course of 2020.
This value represents a decrease of $2,120 billion or 53.67 per cent relative to the $3,950 billion procured in 2019.
That was used to fund Bureaux De Change (BDC) operations, payment of estacode and Personal Travel Allowances (PTA) to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) the report said.
In the report that was signed by the director in charge of the currency operations departs, Ahmed Umar, the apex bank said despite the limitations occasioned by outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in 2020, it still concluded upgrade of the Cash Activity Reporting Portal (CARP) for transmission of currency management data from the financial industry to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
Apart from that, CBN bragged that it completed the development of the Mint tracking system application, needs assessment on the infrastructure, user sensitization, test run at 5 Branches and end-to-end system tests with a view to instituting the pilot launch in 2021; commenced establishment of the Currency Lab for Banknote quality assessment, authentication and independent investigations as well as to adjudicate cases of suspected counterfeit banknotes; and registered an additional Cash-in-Transit (CIT) company which brought the total to nine CIT Companies, to further deepen the private sector participation in CIT services.
Mr Umar said the central bank conducted implementation of the framework for CBN direct intervention for the disbursements of lower denomination banknotes to approved beneficiaries through their bankers to enhance availability and accessibility.