By Aruna Turay
Pursuant to Section 122(2) of the Banking Act, 2019, the Bank of Sierra Leone has announced that Thursday, 30th June 2022 shall be declared a bank holiday.
This is with regards to systems and transactions, and accordingly all commercial banks and deposit-taking institutions shall be closed to the public.
Whereas paragraph 1 of Public Notice No. 223 published in the Gazette on 16th June, 2022 states that “pursuant to Section 1 (3) of the Redenomination of the Leone (Characteristics) Regulations 2021, the redenominated currency shall become legal tender effective 1st July, 2022”.
In addition, pursuant to Section 122(1) of the Banking Act, 2019, on Friday 1st July 2022 which is the appointed date for the redenominated currency to become legal tender, banking hours shall be from 11 am to 6 pm.
Also, pursuant to Section 65 of the Bank of Sierra Leone Act, 2019, effective 1st July, 2022 for the purposes of exchange of existing to redenominated currency, over the counter limit per transaction shall be as Le30,000,000.00 (thirty million leones) for individuals and Le100,000,000.00 (one hundred million leones) for corporate entities.