Just forty The Federal Government disagreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) governor eight hours after he declared that the central bank would redesign the nation’s currency on December 15, 2022.
Zainab Ahmad, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, who denounced the proposal, claimed that if it were to be put into practise, the redesign would have serious negative effects on the country and its economy.
When Senator Opeyemi Bamidele questioned Zainab about the strategy during the 2023 budget defence debate, Zainab responded and warned CBN of potential repercussions.
The value of the Naira to the US dollar has increased from N740 to N788 just two days after the CBN’s announcement of its new policy, according to Senator Bamidele, who had previously informed the Finance Minister that this was happening due to a rush of people exchanging starched Naira Notes for foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar.
The timing, in my opinion, is absolutely incorrect given the reality on the ground, as the Naira may decline to as low as N1,000 to the US dollar before the policy’s scheduled full implementation date of January 31, 2023.
While answering the question, the Minister said she is not aware of the policy but only heard of it from the media .
The Minister said that she had only learned about the policy via the media and that she was unaware of it.
Distinguished senators, we were not informed by the CBN at the Ministry of Finance on the planned revamping of the Naira, and we are unable to comment on its merits or otherwise, the spokeswoman stated.
“However, as a Nigerian who has the privilege of overseeing Nigeria’s fiscal management, the strategy as it is being implemented now portends grave consequences for the value of the Naira relative to other foreign currencies.
Recall that CBN Governor Emefiele had on Wednesday said that the apex bank would redesign the country’s currency from 200 Naira denomination to N1,000 notes .
Emefiele claimed that the measure was made to seize control of the money in circulation and that the CBN would not permit the situation to persist because the majority of the country’s currency notes were not in bank vaults.
The proposed policy, he continued, was compliant with Sections 19, Subsections a and b of the CBN Act 2007, pursuant to which the Management of the CBN requested and received President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval to redesign, print, and distribute a new series of banknotes at the denominations of N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
