Central Bank maintains April 1 deadline for exchange of $100 bills

THE Central Bank is maintaining Wednesday (April 1) as the deadline for people to exchange their old $100 bills for the new $100-polymer notes, despite the implementation of new public health regulations to deal with the covid19 pandemic.

Bank officials confirmed this on Tuesday as people lined up outside the Eric Williams Financial Complex in Port of Spain, where the Central Bank is located.

The officials said dates for the deadlines for exchange of the notes were contained in advertisements which were published in the daily newspapers. Those ads said the Central Bank will be open for redemption of $100-cotton notes during March, up to and including April 1, from 9 am to 3 pm. In Tobago, the bank made arrangements for the collection at the Unit Trust Corporation building in Scarborough on March 12, 19 and 26.

The redemptions continued for people who were hospitalised, out of the country or unable – for legal or other demonstrably serious reasons – to deposit or exchange the cotton notes by December 31, 2019.

In a separate ad, the bank set out covid19 health guidelines for people going to the bank to exchange the old notes. These include allowing a limited number of people into the bank at any one time, and people waiting outside should maintain social distancing by keeping at least six feet away from each other and avoid gatherings of ten or more people.