Mauritanian banks are facing a shortage of local-currency banknotes, with difficulties lasting for weeks in meeting withdrawal requests, especially for large sums.
The Sahara Medias website reported, citing a source, that obtaining an amount of up to 100 million old ouguiyas has become difficult, as the Central Bank has for months rejected banks' requests to withdraw additional cash.
According to the same source, this has led banks to swap cash among themselves to cover their needs and meet customer requests.
The situation comes as monetary policy tightens: the Central Bank raised its key interest rate from 6.75% to 7.25% and increased the reserve requirement ratio from 8% to 15%, as part of measures to curb inflation, which reached 9.3% in September.
